Thanks for a great year, 2018

So....The end of another year. 2018 was an interesting one. This blog is going to be mostly about the "professional" related things that have gone on, although there are many other memories from the year.

The year started off with a lot of job-searching.

Throughout It was fun to help Rob Adams out on Robcating Radio with a lot of Fairfield Prep games and some other games, including the Martin Luther King Classic at Webster Bank Arena. I never think I'm a broadcaster but I have fun on the air and appreciate all the opportunities Rob gives me.

During the summer, Rob got involved with broadcasting both Babe Ruth baseball and Little League baseball and I was excited that he invited me to help out. The Little League baseball was especially fun as we broadcasted a lot of Fairfield American. We called both the District 2 and Section 1 tournaments, which American won both. Included in the run of games was a Fairfield American vs Fairfield National Game.

Robcasting banner and Rob and I calling FFLD American game (Eric Scholl Photo) 

We also broadcasted the 2018 Fairfield Prep Holiday Classic last week. Along with Rob and Jake Zimmer, we called Warde vs Notre Dame and Ludlowe vs Prep on the first night. Rob called the second night solo (AKA, he Scullied it). Warde went on to defeat Ludlowe for the Championship.

Me, Jake and Rob prepping to call the Holiday Tourney (Rob Adams Selfie)

Here is the broadcast of Ludlowe and Prep, which the Falcons won in overtime.

Back to the beginning of the year.

In January, The Darien Times newspaper was looking for freelance sports writers so I reached out and started writing for them. I had written for some of their sister papers in 2017 and I thought it would be good for me and I was also very excited to help out Susan Shultz and Dave Stewart, the editor and sports editor of the DT, respectively. I mostly covered the Darien boys basketball team and the DHS baseball team. I also covered the Darien girls basketball team and the New Canaan baseball team (for the New Canaan Advertiser - a sister paper of the DT, where Dave Stewart is also the sports editor). I got to cover both Ludlowe and Warde, two schools and the town of Fairfield that mean so much to me. It was great getting to interview great coaches and friends in John Dailey, Sara Kinsley, Ryan Swaller, Brett Conner and Mike Francese.

It was great to deal with all of the coaches and student-athletes but covering the Darien baseball team stands out to me. Covering them on a consistent basis, I got to know the players, coaches and the families. Add in the fact that it was cool to cover an FCIAC Championship. Coach Mike Scott and outfielder/pitcher Justin Jordan were phenomenal to work with. Coach Scott was always easy to talk to, whether it be in a post-game interview setting, or just chatting pre-game.

My favorite article I wrote this year, and I think it's the best article I've written, was on Fairfield Warde basketball's Sean Conway. I wrote the article for The Fairfield Sun (it also appeared on the FCIAC website). I interviewed Sean, Dan Fitzpatrick and Coach Swaller and they could not have been easier to work with.

I still did a little more freelancing in the summer and the fall but due to circumstances on both sides, the relationship ended. I enjoyed it and am grateful for the opportunity.

The summer was fun as for the eighth summer in a row, I was a camp counselor with Fairfield Parks and Rec. So many great people I worked with over the summer, and summers past.

The end of the summer turned out to be the best moment of the year as I was hired as the Athletic Secretary at Ludlowe and Warde High Schools. It's been a great four months so far in the job. I have learned a lot and know I will continue to learn. I hope I have been helpful to Athletic Director's Todd Parness and Seth Fry so far and am excited for what is to come. Here I've also met a lot of people. I know a lot of the Ludlowe people but have met more and got to know a lot of people at Warde.

Prior to the FLHS/FWHS football game. 

Looking forward to 2019. Can't wait for baseball season and to be part of the Ludlowe baseball coaching staff.

I hope to write more, whether it be here or on another outlet.

Happy New Year to all!

New Canaan Football Beats Fairfield Prep, Will Face Greenwich in State Championship

New Canaan's Drew Pyne hands the ball off during the Rams win over Prep 

The eight-seeded New Canaan Rams came into Rafferty Stadium in Fairfield and took down the number five seeded Fairfield Prep Jesuits 38-7 on Sunday afternoon.

New Canaan got on the board with 8:32 left in the first quarter on a J.R. Moore two-yard touchdown run.

The Rams went up 10-0 when Nicholas Radman connected on a 21-yard field goal with 1:14 left first quarter.

New Canaan extended their lead to 17-0 with 39 seconds left in the half. Following a Prep fumble that gave the Rams the ball at their own 41, Drew Pyne connected with Wyatt Wilson for a 52-yard touchdown.

Prep got on the board with 4:15 left in the third. Following a New Canaan missed field goal, the Jesuits marched down the field and John Iaropoli connected with Finn Duran for the 16-yard touchdown.

On the next possession, New Canaan answered right back as Moore ran in for the 10-yard touchdown to put the Rams on top 24-7.

Defensively, Jack Finnigan picked off a Prep pass and brought it back to the Jesuits 14-yard line with 1:40 left in the third. Later on the drive, New Canaan recovered their own fumble in the end-zone for a touchdown to put the Rams ahead 31-7. The ball was recovered by Harrison Skym.

O'Connell put the icing on the cake with a 23-yard touchdown run to cap the scoring with 5:33 left.

The Rams will play Greenwich in the Class LL Championship on Saturday at a time and site to be determined.


Editor's note: This was supposed to be a personal blog, but with no outlet to write for at the moment, I'll write a game stories here. 

Broadcasting Fairfield American Little League (With links to the broadcasts)

Team Pic (FA/Twitter) 

I had the pleasure of joining Rob Adams for some little league baseball this past week.

Rob was asked by people with Fairfield American to broadcast the District 2 tournament at Unity Park in Trumbull. He asked me if I wanted to join him. On Monday we saw Fairfield American play Fairfield National. You can listen to that game here.

Then on Wednesday, Rob saw Fairfield American play Trumbull National (I couldn't make that game).

Finally, today, we saw Fairfield American play Trumbull National in the district two championship. FALL defeated Trumbull 12-2 to advance to the Section 1 tournament.


Being a huge advocate for sports in the town of Fairfield, and also being a huge baseball fan, I was more than excited to be part of the broadcasts. I always enjoy following the runs that FALL makes, but having covered some this year, it will be even more enjoyable to follow their progress.

There were plenty of people at the games that I knew. Current and former campers (Both FFLD American and National), Ludlowe baseball players, and many other people from town.

Fairfield American advances to the Section 1 Tournament in Stamford. They will face Weston, the winner of District 1, on Tuesday at 7pm. The other team in the tournament is

Follow me or Rob and Robcasting Radio on Twitter to see what games might be broadcasted. You can also follow along with Fairfield American on their Twitter feed.

Relay for Life of Fairfield 2018

The Hope/Cure lights for the Luminaria Ceremony

Relay for Life of Fairfield was held at Ludlowe High School on Saturday night.

A few years back, the event was changed from an overnight event, to ending at midnight. This was due in large part to the fact that it became a younger group, as it was mostly kids in middle school, rather than those in high school and older.

The number of teams/attendees this year was down from years past. It was light overall, including one side (length wise) of the track having just two sites set up.

With that, I feel that a lot of the purpose of the event is taken away. The ultimate goal, raising money for Cancer research, is still achieved however, so that is most important. Per the RFL committee, about $84,000 was raised this year.

The issue is, for the most part, people don't walk the track. The organized laps, (survivor, caregiver and the Luminaria) are well walked, but the rest of the night there is not much walking on the track. Most people are hanging by their campsite and/or playing games in the middle of the turf.

The Opening Ceremony and the laps were well done from an organization and execution standpoint. The Luminaria ceremony, with the music from the Ludlowe HS Close Harmony, the lighting of hope and cure (pictured above) and the lighting of the glow sticks and the walk around the track, are emotional, but special. It's a chance to honor those touched by cancer. It could be to honor someone who beat the disease, someone who is currently battling, or someone who lost their battle.

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To be honest, from what I saw, there was very little promotion of the event this year. I had to go to the Relay for Life website to see when the date of the event was. I also didn't hear of or see a lot of fundraising efforts by the teams (lemonade stands, etc). That does not mean they were not there, they just could have been promoted better.

With the decrease in participation, the question has to be asked: Will Relay for Life in Fairfield continue in the current form? Or does it just need some changes?

I don't know what will happen but I will say I feel like something needs to be done to spark the event again. I get why they cut it to end at midnight but that shouldn't discourage people from coming. If anything, that should encourage those who don't want to spend a whole night up, to participate.

It's an important event to not only raise money, but also the awareness and to support one another. I hope it continues and is bigger and better than ever next year. It's a great event for the town, but it could be even better. I know a lot of time and effort go into it from the event coordinators so this is not a problem with them, it's just my observations on an event the means a lot.

Overall, I just wish more people came out and supported the event.

I'll end this on a high note, the 2018 honoree, Charlie Capalbo, did a phenomenal job speaking, as did his brother Will.

Charlie speaking at Survivor reception. Also spoke at Opening Ceremony

Always a pleasure helping out Dave Schulz and the rest of the cleanup crew. 

Ludlowe/Warde Baseball in the Fairfield Citizen

Ludlowe/Warde Article FFLD Citizen (Todd Parness Photo)

It's always fun to write about teams and schools that mean something to me. The town of Fairfield and with that, both Ludlowe and Warde mean a lot to me. 

Chris Elsberry, Sports Editor of the Fairfield Citizen, saw that I was the Ludlowe vs Warde baseball game that took place on May 11. He asked me if I could write a game story. Why not? 

I've read the Fairfield Citizen, and specifically the sport section for years, going back to when Pat Pickens was the Sports Editor. 

I wrote the article based on the information I had and what I saw as I watched the game. Thanks to both coaches, Mike Francese and Brett Conner, for answering my questions the Saturday morning after the game. Both coaches are fantastic people and have been great to deal with. 

I'm not breaking any news here by saying I'm a Ludlowe guy, being a former baseball student manager in the program and still being around, but I have the utmost respect for Warde baseball and the Mustang Athletic program. 

Would love to cover these teams/schools more in the future. However, while it was fun, it's not really about my writing. It's about getting these student-athletes, coaches and teams the coverage they deserve. 

Major League Baseball 2018 Predictions

Pitching change during spring training game in Febuary

Major League Baseball Opening Day is Thursday. I can't wait!

Here are my predictions. I'll likely be completely wrong but isn't that a lot of the fun of it.

Let me know your thoughts. Do you agree with me? Disagree with me? What differences do you see and why? Comment on social media or directly on the blog, lets have a discussion!

American League

AL East: Yankees

AL Central: Indians

AL West: Astros

AL Wild Cards: Red Sox, Twins

Wild Card Game: Red Sox over Twins

AL Division Series': Red Sox over Astros; Yankees over Indians

AL Championship Series: Yankees over Red Sox

National League

NL East: Nationals

NL Central: Cubs

NL West: Dodgers

NL Wild Cards: Brewers, Mets

Wild Card Game: Brewers over Mets

NL Division Series': Dodgers over Brewers, Cubs over Nationals

NL Championship Series: Dodgers over Cubs

World Series: Yankees defeat Dodgers in six games. 

AL MVP: Carlos Correa

NL MVP: Bryce Harper

AL CY YOUNG: Chris Sale

NL CY YOUNG: Noah Syndergaard

AL ROY: Shohei Ohtani

NL ROY: Ronald Acuna 

AL MANAGER: Paul Molitor

NL MANAGER: Craig Counsell

WS MVP: Giancarlo Stanton

It's a long season, let's see what happens. It's almost time for baseball to be back (as of writing this on Monday night). 

Freelance Sports Writing

I've been doing some freelance sports writing for The HAN Network.

In the fall, I covered football for a couple of their publications, including The Fairfield Sun and the Trumbull Times.

Then, the last couple of weeks, I've been writing about basketball for another one of their publications, The Darien Times. (Hockey is something I have been told that I know I need to learn more and then cover).

Personally, getting to cover Ludlowe basketball against Darien was a blast. I got to cover both the girls and boys games and got to interview both Ludlowe coaches (along with Darien coaches, Charoy Bentley and Melba Chambers), Sara Kinsley and John Dailey.

I've gotten to know players and coaches at different schools that I did not. At the schools where I do know people, I've gotten to work with them in a different capacity than I previously had when apart of the Ludlowe basketball team or when I interned in the Ludlowe Athletic Department.

I've also had the opportunity to interact with many great media members from other outlets, including Scott Ericson, Chris Elsberry, Emery Filmer, Rob Adams, Chris Kaelin and Damian Andrew.

It's been good to work with Dave Stewart, Susan Shultz, Bill Bloxsom, John Kovach, Marty Hersam and the rest of the team who has put my articles online and in print who I have not directly worked with.

Most of what I have done is game stories. However, I just finished up writing an article on Warde boys basketball's Sean Conway. I really enjoyed writing this. It was different for me, but a lot of fun. I was happy to write about what a great player and person Conway is. Thanks to Sean, Dan Fitzpatrick and Coach Ryan Swaller for your assistance.

Thanks to Art Cockerham for allowing me to use some of the photos he has taken. Go check out his photography skills on the Ludlowe Athletics Instagram.

I look forward to see where it continues to go as I look for a full-time job.

If anyone has any suggestions for what you'd like to see me write about, feel free to reach out to be on Twitter or Facebook.

MLK Classic

I had a great time today doing color for the Martin Luther King Jr. Basketball Classic at Webster Bank Arena along side Rob Adams on Robcasting Radio. Normally, I am the third, fourth or fifth person as part of the crew. When that's the case, I can Tweet, do some stats, and talk very little. Today, I actually felt like I had to talk at least a little so I didn't make Rob talk for eight hours. (Not that Rob "Scullying" is a bad thing, I really enjoy listening to that).

I didn't say a lot, but I said much more than I normally do when I'm on air.

It's weird, I normally talk a lot when I'm just talking...especially about sports. However, when you put a microphone in front of me, I don't say much. There is something very wrong with that.

We saw four good games spanning almost eight hours.

First up, Ludlowe took on Bridgeport Central. Obviously, being a Ludlowe grad, being a former student manager for the basketball team, and still being around the team some (Ok, ALL of the time), this one was extra special to be a part of. It helps to know things about the team like I do with Ludlowe in order to provide analysis.

In the second game of the day, Career Magnet from New Haven faced Warren Harding from Bridgeport.



In the penultimate game, Notre Dame of Fairfield matched up with Xaverian from Brooklyn, New York. It was fun for me to see a team that wasn't from Connecticut play because CT high school basketball is what I am used to.


The day was capped of with Wilbur Cross from New Haven taking on Bassick from Bridgeport.

Thanks to Rob for having me. Also thanks to everyone who was part of the event, from the people at Webster Bank Arena, to the people in the Bridgeport Athletic Department who organized and ran the event. Also thanks to all the players and coaches on the eight teams.