Thinking Back

We all know what happened on this awful day 20 year ago. So many lives lost, so many people lost loved ones. So many more lives impacted. 

We all have memories of that day. 

I was in first grade in Ms. Kozokowski's (Ms. K) class at Riverfield School. What I remember was Mrs. Breisler, one of the secretaries (who is now a colleague), coming into the classroom and telling Ms. K something in regards to what had happened just a little while earlier. 

I don't remember much else from that day, other than that we got out of school early and I remember my dad coming home from work early and meeting my mom, brother and I at school before we went home. 

We think about those lives lost, we think about all the first responders, those we lost, and those who survived. We also think about those who continue to protect our country today. 

I think of my family who lost a member of their family in the Towers that day. I think of others who have passed since then due to effects of what happened. 

While I didn't know Bobby, I have heard stories as the years have past, from both family and through reading things online. 

I think of my cousin, who is currently a Port Authority Police Officer, who protects us everyday. Also, my uncle, who is a retired Port Authority cop, who was at Ground Zero helping with the recovery. 

So many people lost so much that day and in the days, weeks, months and years to follow. It will be a day that forever changed our country, in so many ways. 

So many thoughts. We always remember. Not just on the anniversary. We never forget. 

Summer's Over

Time to begin the "Road Trip" of another school year

Well, officially, summer is not over, but summer break for me is over as I go back to work tomorrow*. 

*Let's be honest though, I've done work over the summer. 

This summer was good. To go along with the photo I used above, now we begin navigate school year. 

 As a wrote about, I had a blast writing about Fairfield Legion Baseball. 

I did miss the fact that there was no broadcasting of Little League baseball with Rob Adams this summer. That had been a staple the past three years (summer of '18 and "19 and early fall of "20). 

Rob did do a Babe Ruth New England Regional baseball tournament in Trumbull late July and I enjoyed joining him for the one day of that. I couldn't join him for more, as we went on a family vacation to Las Vegas and California to visit family and friends. You can listen to all of the games of the tournament that Rob broadcasted here. 

The vacation was good. We visited my mom's friend in Vegas and did a few Vegas things, including walking the Las Vegas Strip and seeing a show. Then we went to California to visit, my Dad's brother and his family. I took a lot of photos from the trip. 

Taking photos on a trip or at any event is something I wish I was better at and hope to do more of. It's just a way to document life. People did it years ago but it should be so much easier with smartphones now.

 I wish I wrote more this summer, personally. I wrote for Legion, but not on this blog. I wish I would be like Rob and write all the time about many different topics, items, and thoughts. I feel like when I write, it's only about major topics. I keep saying it, but hopefully I will write more going forward. I just don't have that much interesting stuff to write about. 

Year number four begins tomorrow. I would say it will be an interesting year, especially the start, but every year has been interesting, for one reason or another. None of the previous three years I've been in the job have been so called "regular" years. 

Excited for sports to get going. Football and boys golf (boys golf is now a Fall sport as of this year) are already underway in Connecticut and the rest of the Fall sports get underway on the 26th.

It will be busy and likely crazy but it should be exciting no matter what. We will see what happens. 

Fun Summer With Fairfield Legion Baseball

Both photos are 19U team. Players were missing from each (My photo (left), Sars Ford photo (right)) 

The Fairfield American Legion Post 143 Militia summer baseball program finished their season this past weekend. I had the pleasure of serving in a communications role for the program this summer. I know this is going to come off as being too much about me (It's bad I have to put this disclaimer), but I just enjoyed being able to help promote the Fairfield Legion program and the players. 

Basically, I was covering the games. I wrote game recaps, and handled social media (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram). I also did a lot of their Game Changer*, a scorekeeping app. In an effort to better promote the program, we submitted the recaps I wrote on another blog I created to the Fairfield Patch and the Fairfield Citizen in order to get the team and the players and team noticed by a wider audience than our sites.  In addition, I linked the blog where the game recaps were written to the Fairfield Legion website. 

*Game Changer was something I had seen but never really used before. It is nice to learn a new program. There is a lot of good in Game Changer. I am still a paper scorebook person at heart, but for certain situations, Game Changer is definitely better. 

I hope the coverage I provided them was helpful. Thank you to Sars Ford, the Fairfield GM for bringing me on board and for all his help. Thanks also to 19U head coach Chris Bugyi, his assistants Jim Chaves and Mark Keeney. In addition, thank you to 17U coaches Eddie Klukojc and Seamus McGovern. 

To all the players, it was fun to watch and write about you guys this season. Some players I knew very well, others I knew, but not well, and then there were some I didn't know at all but it was nice to get to know. There are players from Ludlowe, Warde, Prep and other schools where the players live in Fairfield. Some of the players are currently in high school, while others are in college, so it's somewhat of a wide mix age wise. You guys are all great players and young men and have great baseball ahead of you, whether that still is in high school, or in college. 

The 19U team finished 24-7 and made a run to the championship game of the Regional Qualifying Tournament. The 17U team finished the season at 11-14. 

If you want to read about their season, you can go here for all of the game recaps. Some highlights of their season (in my opinion), include the Coopers Cave Tournament in Saratoga Springs (and Sean McAdams' home run during that tournament), Phil Hogan's perfect game against Milford on July 13, and the postseason run they made. I'm sure there are other moments I'm forgetting. Especially considering the few I just mentioned were all games I was not at in person. I was mostly at the home games. 

I look forward to continuing working with them in the future. 

Competitiveness

A large part of sports is competition. I am a very competitive person. It doesn't matter what sport, game, level. I want to win. My competitiveness also shows my passion. In a lot of ways, competitiveness and passion go hand-and-hand. If you want to read about passion, read this. 

Sometimes, this is a bad thing as I look like a fool. Before anyone says anything, yes, I can look like a fool for a number of other reasons also. 

When I'm coaching, I am very competitive, whether that's as an assistant coach for the Ludlowe baseball team or coaching the Ludlowe basketball JV summer league, for example. I know the results in summer league basketball don't matter, it's about getting the players better and getting them opportunity to play together, but I still hate to lose. In baseball, I often show way too much emotion as a coach. There are many examples but a good one is the 2019 FCIAC quarterfinal game against Warde. 

I get too excited again! https://t.co/F8KAG5tman

— Shawn Sailer (@ShawnSailer) May 18, 2019

Then there's also a game earlier that season (we had a lot of walk-off wins that year. 

 

Spotted myself. I get a little to excited as a coach. Oops. https://t.co/WUQMZACrgW

— Shawn Sailer (@ShawnSailer) April 6, 2019

When I am watching high school sports, I am also highly competitive. This is especially true when watching Ludlowe basketball. My fist pumps and foot stomps on the bleachers are two ways I show my emotion as the games are going on. According to Aiden Blanc, I usually bring energy that equates to 100 student fans. This is probably true! Once again, I look like a fool but it's my competitiveness and passion. 

When watching professional games, I am also extremely competitive and animated. Between fist pumps and slamming the couch (for good or bad moments) or throwing my hat, it's pretty clear that I show emotion when watching games. I do this watching all the teams I foot for but I think it's especially profound when watching the Packers. Likely because they've played so many nail-biting frustrating games over the years. I've definitely done it for the Yankees, and other teams I root for too. I do it both when at games in person, and when at home watching games on TV. I think I actually show more passion or emotion when I am watching a game on TV. Not sure why. 

I was like this when when playing sports too, whether it be little league and Jr Babe Ruth Baseball or Wakeman Boys & Girls Club or Rec basketball. I always wanted to win, often far more than anyone else on my team cared about winning. That's just the competitive nature of me. 

My competitiveness goes beyond sports (I know, you didn't know I knew anything other than sports. I basically don't). An example of this is when there are game shows on TV. One, I try to figure out the answer and get frustrated when it's something stupid. Also, it annoys me when the person who loses is happy. I'd be so frustrated and annoyed. 

I'm sure there are other examples. Overall, I am a very competitive person, sometimes too much. I love winning and hate losing. That's not to say I'm a sore loser, just passionate. But I also think it just shows my passion and how much I care....and how crazy I am. 

State Championship Saturday

This weekend was state championship weekend for Connecticut High School spring sports. There were a few championships on Friday night and a plethora more on Saturday. 

First off, congrats to all those teams around the state who won championships in all sports, especially those in the FCIAC. 

Ludlowe had two teams playing in state championship games, the girls lacrosse team and the softball team. Unfortunately, both teams came up on the short end. Girls lacrosse fell to Darien 14-6. Softball was walked-off by Southington 4-3. 

Both teams had amazing seasons. For softball, they won the first FCIAC softball championship in school history, before making a strong run to the state championship game and coming up a run short.  It was the first appearance in a state title game in school history. 

For the girls lacrosse team, they made their first state championship game appearance since 2010, when they defeated Staples for the title.  

Congrats to both teams on tremendous seasons, despite the losses today. 

In some ways for me, it was weird not being at the baseball finals, but I am also going to support Ludlowe teams, rather than non-Fairfield teams. 

There were broadcasts of these games and plenty of reporters out coving all of the sports, from baseball to softball to girls lacrosse and boys lacrosse. GameTime CT does a great job at covering the action and you can go there to read more about today and this weekend. 

The crowds at the games I was at, and from what I heard and saw from others, were large and loud. This is great to see because hopefully we are getting back to normal. There's something special about packed stands for a championship game. It's great when student sections come out and are loud as they cheer for their teams (respectfully, for the most part). 

Della Jackson with a go-ahead RBI triple to give Ludlowe a 3-2 lead on Southington top 7 #ctsb @LudloweSB pic.twitter.com/tfna6m6yIr

— Shawn Sailer (@ShawnSailer) June 12, 2021

Two Days, Two Titles, One Town

 

Two days, Two Titles. One Town. 

That is the case for the Fairfield Public High Schools*. Ludlowe softball won the FCIAC championship on Thursday, while Warde baseball won an FCIAC title of their own on Friday. 

*Yes, I realize Prep baseball won the SCC Championship, but I work at Ludlowe and Warde, so that is where my focus is. 

For Ludlowe softball, it was the first title in school history. The Falcons, the No. 2 seed, defeated the St. Joseph Cadets 6-3 at Sacred Heart University. In the regular season, the Cadets won 5-2, handing Ludlowe their only loss of the season.

Here is the game story from GameTime CT's Maggie Vanoni as Reyes, Ludlowe rally to top St. Joseph for first FCIAC softball crown

History is made. Fairfield Ludlowe wins the school’s first-ever FCIAC championship title after beating St. Joseph, 6-3. Ludlowe awaits its placement in the state tournament bracket. #ctsb pic.twitter.com/41xB8S3o2Z

— Maggie Vanoni (@maggie_vanoni) May 27, 2021

In Warde baseball's case, the defeated the Greenwich Cardinals 9-0 at Cubeta Stadium. Zack Brodrick threw a complete-game for the Mustangs. It's their first title since 2014 and the second since the schools split. Fairfield High School (when Warde and Ludlowe were combined) won in 2004. 

Here's the game story from GameTime CT's Scott Ericson as Broderick pitches Warde to FCIAC Championship over Greenwich. 

.@WardeBaseball celebrates their 2021 FCIAC Championship win. (Using my very limited iMovie skills to edit the broadcast and my iPhone footage together) #ctbase #InTheBooth pic.twitter.com/WYezhqbKXH

— Rob Adams (@double5) May 29, 2021

If you want to watch the entire Warde/Greenwich game with Rob Adams on the call, go here

Congrats to both teams and good luck to everyone in the state tournament!  

Warde Baseball Wins Tight Battle Over Ludlowe

Warde baseball edged Ludlowe by a 6-5 score on Wednesday afternoon at Kiwanis Field in Fairfield in the annual rivalry game between the two schools. 

The Mustangs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. They loaded the bases on no hits, as Roman DiGiacomo walked, Declan O'Hara was hit by a pitch and John Heitzman also walked. Zack Broderick, the Mustangs starting pitcher, then helped himself with a two-run single to center field to plate DiGiacomo and O'Hara. 

Warde tacked on in the second inning. With Garrett Larsen at second and two outs, O'Hara singled to left to bring in another run. The next batter, Heitzman, doubled down the right field line to bring home O'Hara and extend the Mustangs lead to 4-0. 

Ludlowe would cut into the deficit in the third. The Falcons would pick up two runs, including an RBI single from Reese Palumbo. 

Warde added another run in the 5th. Jack Andrews singed to left with two outs to bring home Broderick from third who had reached on an error to lead off the inning. 

The Falcons would come back to tie the game in the bottom half of the frame. Justin Dennett reached on an error to lead off the inning. Two batters later, Noah Schaper singled to right to bring home Dennett and cut the deficit to 5-3. Three batters later with runners at second and third, pinch-hitter Ben Gaffney doubled down the left field line to bring in two runs and tie the game at five. 

Warde would take the lead for good in the top of the seventh. Jake Balogh led off the inning with a single to center. Three batters later, with Balogh at third, Larsen singled to short center field to bring home the go-ahead run. 

Ludlowe would get the tying run on first with two outs, but couldn't push the tying run across the plate. 

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In the softball game between Ludlowe and Warde, the Falcons came away with a 13-3 victory to take home the Walker Cup.