Thursday, December 31, 2020

Looking Back On 2020 and Forward To What's To Come

I wasn't going to write about 2020. Let's be honest, it wasn't that exciting. There was nothing that specifically stands out, at least from a fun, good, point of view. But then I'm like, if I want to keep writing, I should write something. There's kind of that "I see other friends who blog (Rob Adams and John Nash, specifically) writing end of year posts, maybe I can/should. 

Overall, this has been a boring year, but in the same fate, an Ok year personally. However, plenty of friends have lost family members this year and plenty of others are dealing with tough times. Obviously, COVID-19 has been a big chunk of the year and has impacted all of us in many ways. 

From a local sports perspective, we had the 2019-2020 winter season cut short, no 2020 spring season, and an abbreviated 2020 fall season. At this point, the 2020-2021 winter season is put on hold, so we will see what happens in the coming weeks. There were some sports played over the summer and it was nice to see baseball. I got to see a bunch of Fairfield American Legion games, as well as Fairfield American and Fairfield National little league baseball. In addition, Rob and I broadcasted the CT State Little League baseball State Tournament. 

If I think about some local games and moments from the year that stood out, there aren't that many. More, there are behind the scenes moments that stand out. Those are stories we can tell at later times, or are for others to tell. In terms of games, here are a few that come to mind. 

1) Fairfield Legion walk-off vs Greenwich in the playoffs

2) Hamden defeating Montville in the Little League State Tournament

 

3) Despite it being a Warde loss, the Mustangs boys basketball FCIAC semifinal game was a fun back-and-forth game that came down to the final seconds. https://events.locallive.tv/events/37157 

I'm probably forgetting some games that I should include, but honestly there were not that many. I also tried to find games where I had video or audio. 

Oh, and I really need to learn more music so I can know what people are talking about and be more involved in conversations. That will be one of my New Years resolutions. If I can somehow relate the songs to sports, that would be much easier and much more likely that I will pay attention. 

Here's hoping things get better for everyone and we can enjoy 2021 and beyond. It's not going to change just because it's a new year, but hopefully things change soon. Also, as I wrote a couple blogs ago, hoping for a lot of sports soon. Thankful for many friendships built and those strengthened and looking forward to more of that.  

To better days.....

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Nets, Not the Knicks? Yes, Go Nets!


Hopefully the current Nets are even more excitable as the Jason Kidd days. 

It's the opening night of the NBA season. You're writing about the NBA, you say. Well, for the first time in a long time, I'm actually somewhat excited about it. 

Being a Nets fan, there hasn't been a lot to cheer about since since the early to mid 2000's when they went deep in the playoffs a couple years, including going to the NBA Finals in 2001-2002 and 2002-2003. Well, tonight begins the long-overdue debut of Kevin Durant, as he teams with Kyrie Irving and the rest of the Nets. I'm also interested to see what DeAndre Jordan does for them. He's a inside presence that can work well with Jarrett Allen. 

People think it's crazy when I tell them I'm a Nets fan, and that I was a Nets fan when they were in New Jersey with Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson. I'm not sure why or how I became a Nets fan because they are the one team I started cheering for when they were not great in the mid-late 2000's, after the Finals appearances. There were some ups and plenty of downs with many coaching changes. I liked Lawrence Frank and he had some success early on, but when went through a really bad stretch and untimely got let go during the 12-70 2009-2010 season. Since then, they are on their 10th coach (including interim). That is not a recipe for success. Or should I say, that is due to the lack of success. 

The first game I went to was 2006 (I believe) at the Izod Center, then Continental Airlines Arena in *East Rutherford, NJ. I know they weren't good, but I miss the days of them in NJ. They will always be the NJ Nets to me, but I've continued to be a fan, once they moved to Brooklyn. I know some people said they would no longer be fans. To me, it's the same franchise, they just moved location.  

*I initially had written Newark. Thanks to Brian Koonz for pointing it out. I should know better, as it's part of the Meadowlands sports complex which includes Metlife Stadium and it's always said "From East Rutherford, New Jersey."

Now, back to present day. Having the stars is awesome, now as fans, we need to hope the work well together and bring the team success. This also allows players who had to be the go-to-guys before, like Joe Harris, fit in well as role players. A team with a lot of stars is helpful, but you need other guys to fill in the pieces in order to have a great team. 

It's a long season so it may take some time for the everything to mesh and for people like Durant, who is coming off an injury, to shake off some rust. It's a unique season but it can also hopefully we a fun season. It will be interesting to see what happens but I'm intrigued. 

Thursday, December 17, 2020

Missing Sports

I haven't blogged in over two months. I keep saying I want to blog more, but I just don't have much to write about, and don't want to write about news you can get many other places. What's the point? I need to be better at finding topics and just write. Write for myself. It doesn't matter who reads or doesn't read. It doesn't need to be sports (even though, as I say below and everyone knows, sports are my life). I want to continue to keep my journalism passion and sharpen my writing skills. 

I look at what Rob Adams is doing over at his blog, Exit 55, with Project 365+. He's almost at two full years of one blog a day. Or John Nash at The October Weekend, who first challenged Rob to Project 365 in 2019 and continues to blog often. I'm not saying I'm going to be them, but I just see what they are doing and which I would write more. 

Now to my main point of this post. 

I miss sports, especially at the local level. I realize what's going on in the country (and the word) with the COVID pandemic is more important than sports, but I am still holding hope that there is a safe way to have local sports around here. 

Connecticut fall high school sports ended in early November* and as of now, winter sports don't start until January 19th at the earliest. Hopefully we get some sort of winter season in. In addition, no matter what happens with winter sports, the CIAC (Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference) has said they will try to give as much of a normal spring season as possible consider the spring athletes lost their entire spring season last year. 

*It was a modified season, but we got a fall sports season in without much disruption and the athletes and teams got to have a fall sports experience, which is the goal. 

I see photos from people in other parts of the country where games are being played. It makes me miss sports even more. 

As I said to someone else, not only is high school sports my job, it's my life. As pathetic as that may sound. I live for HS basketball and HS baseball. 

Between helping out the basketball team at Ludlowe and being on the Ludlowe baseball coaching staff and then of course dealing with all the other Ludlowe and Warde teams as part of my job, there's not much else. There's still work to be done, and I'm able to get ahead on some things, but not as much as I'd like just due to the uncertainty of the seasons. 

I've enjoyed all the professional and college sports we have gotten to watch. From MLB, to the NFL, to college football and college basketball, as well as the NBA and NHL and so much more. I've been home more so I've watched a bunch and it's been great to watch. To those who say it's not real, or it doesn't matter, you're not a real sports fan. 

We will see what happens. Hopefully we have some answers soon. And hopefully there is more from me around here.