Charlie Strong

Charlie Strong

Capalbo Strong

Those were a couple of the phrases and hashtags on social media used for Charlie Capalbo in his fight against cancer. 

Unfortunately, Charlie's fight came to an end up Sunday night. I will not phrase it as Charlie lost his fight because he fought an incredible five-plus year fight. 

Charlie was a 2017 graduate of Fairfield Ludlowe and a member of the Fairfield Co-op ice hockey team. 

Charlie battled four cancer diagnoses over those five years. A true warrior.

Heartbroken for his family, parents Anthony, Jenny, brother Will and girlfriend Peyton. 

Heartbroken for his extended family and friends. 

Heartbroken for the CT hockey community and the Fairfield community. 

A Fairfield community that has seen too much loss of young people over the last few years with Jake Panus, Kevin Kuczo and now Charlie. 

All different causes. All tragic. 

There may be others that I am missing. No disrespect intended. 

Back to Charlie. Only 23 years old. Any age is too young, but this is way too young. 

The way the community bonded together to support the family over the years was tremendous. From events at local sports, to other events set up around town. Fairfield showed how it will support one of their own. And it wasn't just Fairfield. People came from near and far to support the family. 

We have seen that a number of times over the years when families have been in need of support (emotional, financial and more). I think of the examples I listed above, as well as others, where there may be been other issues and outcomes. 

The news of Charlie's battle ranged far and wide. So many people showing support for him and the family. 

For Charlie, his fight is over. He can be at peace. The community will now (and already is) rally around the family. Charlie will be honored and never forgotten. 

People are hurting tonight. 

Hopefully, people come together and support one another. 

Life is confusing. 

Life isn't fair. 

Sports Rivalries

Rivalries in sports are great. 

Sure, there are downsides, but there is a lot of good that comes out of rivalries in sports. 

From the play on the court/field, etc, to the coaches, to the fans and more, there is just so much that comes out of rivalries. In terms of the fans, it goes from being at games, to social media and more. 

There are so many great rivalries.  Yankees/Red Sox, Duke/UNC, Lakers/Celtics just to name a few. Or rivalries between players, both friendly and unfriendly. Some that come to mind are Tom Brady and Payton Manning or Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

Rivalries happen for many reasons. Some are just demographic. Others are because the teams played in the playoffs and championships against each other multiple times. Sometimes it's because of players on certain teams who stir up issues, or sometimes it has to do with the fans. 

Often, it's a combination of these reasons or other factors that arise. 

On Saturday night, the Duke Blue Devils and the North Carolina Tar Heels, known as the Tobacco Road Rivalry, faced off in the Final Four of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. 

The two schools, who are only eight miles apart, had never met in the NCAA tournament prior to meeting in Saturday's Final Four. 

North Carolina came away with an 81-77 victory in a seesaw game, to advance to Monday's Championship.  The game ended up being the final one for Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski (Coach K). He announced prior to the season that this one would be his last. Congrats to Coach K on a tremendous career. 

There has been much discussion and debate about Coach K in the last couple days and there will be more in the coming days. Some people feel like he makes it too much about himself. He is currently the winningest coach in NCAA Division I Men's Basketball history. Look at what Duke was before Coach K arrived in Durham. 

If Coach K, or any coach or player, was on your team, rather than a team you hate, you would love him. Because he would help you win, and he'd be yours. That's common sense. You also should respect their greatness, even if you don't like them. 

For example, because the the rivalry that has developed between the Packers and Seahawks in the NFL, I don't really like Russell Wilson. However, I have enormous respect for him and would take him on my team (If I didn't have Rodgers, of course). There are others but this is the first that came to my mind.  

Even on your on team, their may be players you don't like. But if they help your team win, you're Ok with it. For example, I didn't like Grayson Allen on Duke. But he helped them win, so I tolerated it. 

Those who don't like him or Duke are because Duke wins. Everyone hates Duke unless you are a Duke fan (HI!). This is the case with any team that wins, or has one. The same can be said for the Yankees, Patriots and others. 

Sure, they've had some players who could be considered "dirty" (See Christian Laitner or the aforementioned Allen). Every team has that though. Then you have the opposites. Those guys who may not be stars, but are great teammates and people. 

Rivalries are issues when they get personal. There is no need for that. The players don't need to get into personal items and the fans don't need to make real issues with other fans. Sure, you can chirp in some ways, but there needs to be a line. Sometimes the lines get crossed. 

Good luck to North Carolina, and fans like Mike Hirn, Charlie Jones, and others, as the face off with Kansas on Monday night. I still can't root for them though.....

Oh and Let's go UConn women tonight against South Carolina in the Championship.