Anyone feel like bragging?

[Scot-e]

Wow- this Took me back to 1995.
I was in a karate tournament in the GA Dome. First guy I fight is 3” taller then me and kicks me right in the nuts - first move. I get up- pissed off and start ripping through people.
I finally lost and was very upset and the ref said “ second in the world in your belt class is not bad” I had lost in the finals and did not realize it.
Got a trophy as tall as me that’s somewhere in the basement.

 

[Scot-e]

My Dad and I about 20 years apart.
View attachment 68190

That’s awesome.

 

[The Funster]

Slow pitch, I hit a softball over the war memorial at Riverview Park in Shelton. I've heard guys talk about hitting a baseball over it in high school.

One other time, playing left field (softball) someone ripped a ball over my head. I ran straight back and reached up and grabbed the ball.

What's interesting is that in both instances time slowed down for me as I was making the play. It has happened at other times for me (like avoiding an accident). I have been on a lifetime search to try and create and capture those moments but never have been able to. If I can ever make time slow down (even once) on command I will consider my life complete.

 

[Chin Diesel]

About 20 years ago or so....

Playing intramural softball while in the Navy. As a lefty I was normally a first basemen. If I had to play outfield I usually chose right since I didn't have the speed for center and left field gets too much action.

Anywho, due to a bunch of no shows and other stuff I'm in RF and a player hits a flare over second basemen's head. Wind was blowing out. Second basemen is running out at full speed and I'm running in. We're both calling for the ball. I'm watching the ball and right as the ball is about to hit my glove, I woke up in the emergency room about an hour later. Second basemen was in the ER bed next to me.

As the story is told to us, right as the ball was coming in to my glove we hit head on at full speed. I was a bit bigger and they said the second basemen instantly went limp and was out. Just fell like a sack of potatoes hitting a wall. I actually caught the ball, stumbled back a step or two and when I went to throw the ball in, I dropped. Neither one of us moved for a minute or so. Both of us KO'd. His face and nose smashed my teeth. I broke his nose and a couple of ribs. He put one of my front teeth in the back of my mouth. Teammates said the sound of us hitting was like a metal bat hitting an oak tree.

 

[Improviser]

Slow pitch, I hit a softball over the war memorial at Riverview Park in Shelton. I've heard guys talk about hitting a baseball over it in high school.

One other time, playing left field (softball) someone ripped a ball over my head. I ran straight back and reached up and grabbed the ball.

What's interesting is that in both instances time slowed down for me as I was making the play. It has happened at other times for me (like avoiding an accident). I have been on a lifetime search to try and create and capture those moments but never have been able to. If I can ever make time slow down (even once) on command I will consider my life complete.

In the instance with the skillful catch, it sounds like you had good focus and quick reaction time. Sort of like a pilot who makes the right decision in a split second, like Sully Sullenberger. Obviously, he was aware of a problem and had to act very quickly. Proverbially, he "kept his eyes on the ball. " Often, we just have to react in those moments.

Good quality to have. May seem like time slowing down, but maybe you outran time.

Sometimes, time outruns and we don't get a desired result.

 

[BigEastCT]

1) In sixth grade my parents dropped me off at the wrong CYO tryout. I was in sixth grade and made the 8th grade team.

2) I was playing JV basketball as a sophomore and playing well. I was taken out of the game in the 4th quarter and brought into the locker room where they had my varsity warmup with my name on the back. I was pumped that I got called up to varsity as a sophomore, only 5' 8". Did not think I was going to see any game time, and low and behold with-in 3 minutes I get thrown in the game against #3 Windsor....I was pumped, I finished with 9 points !...we lost, but never forget that day

 

[mauconnfan]

Freshmen year at Tunxis CC baseball, 1979, hit safely in 7 consecutive at bats in doubleheader vs. Middlesex CC. Same year voted team MVP and we made it to championship game of CC NE Regional. Lost to Quinsiggamon (sp?) CC.

Did you play your sophomore year at Tunxis as well? Played for Middlesex in '78 and '80, hoops and baseball. My brother coached baseball in 79 and 80 for Middlesex after being cut by the Mets. We would've played vs each other in 80 if you attended 2 years, but I can honestly say I didn't think Tunxis was very good in 80 don't remember '78, obviously very good in '79. They were good in hoops in '78 ranked in the country when we beat them in a slow down game at Plainville HS. It was in the 40's big upset for us. But as far as baseball in '80 the teams to beat were Housatonic and Manchester if I remember correctly and we beat them both in the double elimination tourney but didn't have the staff to close it and get to the regionals. I had some really good games in both hoops and baseball during my career, had lots of memories and made lots of friends to this day from all over central CT.

Nice job your freshman year though CC baseball was pretty damn good back in those days for sure!

 

[Travelman6]

-Varsity (usually 5th best on team, sometimes the 6th, once the 4th) on the second place cross country team in CT.
-Two-time "Hotshot" champion at a basketball camp in the SE Shoreline CT. (Basically I made a lot of shots around the court and from 3)
-2nd boat, and tried out for 1st boat, on a crew team that sent the first boat to nationals and they went to Croatia too. *Coach wanted to see if I could replace one of the 4 rowers in the first boat but in the end, all 4 stayed the same, I was the only rower who tried out as a possible replacement. I crumpled after that and fell to 3rd boat and for a week, 4th boat before getting back up to 3rd. Years later, this same team is sending multiple rowers to the Olympics and has, in the past, had rowers row for Yale, Harvard, Penn, Stanford, and other excellent rowing Universities.
-Tennis most improved player Senior year
-Was well known for my 3 point prowess during Friday night pick-up games in 9th-12th grade.
-One of only 3 or 4 6th graders to make Varsity basketball in Middle school (6th to 8th grade).
-Played on the Cardinals, a team that won second place in little league.
-Once ran 30km without stopping and did 18km the next day.
-Improved my 5km time, in 11th grade (23+ minutes) to nearly under 18 by 12th grade.

 

[uconndogs]

I was a bit of a gym rat when at UCONN and ended up in a pick-up game with one of the former UCONN hoops guys. Pretty sure it was Jeff Carr. Anyway, I'm 5'7" and at one point he literally dribbled over the top of my head. I actually played pretty well, but how do you ever recover from something like that.............

 

[Mister P]

Would that be 1979 the year my NW Catholic Indians lost to Wilbur Cross? We lost by a point at CCSU. Game was on CPTV. Norman Bailey and Marcus Brown were incredible that year. Norman was a bit of a jerk but Marcus is the nicest guy you'd ever meet. Even now when I run into Marcus he still says what's up. And I was just a skinny little Sophomore then.

78-79 season.

Foster was the quickest guy I ever saw. He could also stop on a dime at full speed and get a shot off before you could react.

There were some really good teams and players in the state that year. John Pinone led South Catholic over Harding . I think Bagley was also a senior that year for Harding.

 

[mauconnfan]

I was fortunate enough to have a ton of good memories and games from little league baseball to legion, HS, college to Greater Hartford Twilight (other twilights) league for many years. In hoops Meriden Boys Club Cuno and CYO, Jr Pro team to HS and CC college, City Leagues from Meriden to Springfield. But the best of them is maybe LL baseball 16-0 in 3 years pitching (ruined my arm not kidding had a great curveball but shouldn't have been throwing it so much that young) batted .759 my last year 12 years old still have the batting trophy and in 4 all star games had 6 HRs and was 22 for 28 in those games, 12 yr old last year. We got to the state semis only to lose to a team from Southington (McCabe i believe) who we beat in a practice game a couple weeks prior 23-1 - we lost 3-2 kid was tough on the mound. Later played for SHS against him. Also had 11 straights hits in 3 games my senior year in HS which included a 6 for 6 game against cross town rival Platt HS and who would be my legion buddies the summer. It was after a 4-4 game and I did get a hit in my first AB in the tourney after the Platt game making it 11 straight. Won a Greater Twilight League title for Katz Sports Shop of Meriden in the first year the GHTL let us in. Lot's of legion and Babe Ruth success individually and team, which I am more proud of as all these days were blessed with many new friends in life which I still share memories with. Hoops junior pro went to the regional finals only to lose to a Boston team by 1 or else we were going to Rupp Arena for the nationals. The 11-12 year olds on that team did get there the next year finishing 3rd in the nation. I did have 21 vs Boston in the loss but it honestly still hurts wanted Rupp Arena bad lol. Had lots of solid games in HS, as someone said above one of the best memories was soph year on JV being taken out at the end of the 3rd quarter to suit up for varsity in a game vs Bristol Eastern was exciting. I had 28 in 3 quarters of the JV game so they expected me to say hot. Only had 8 in a few minutes but took down 9 boards too which I was more happy about. Had a few nice games the rest of HS career and even some at Middlesex with maybe my 17 and a 24 in 2 games vs a really good Mattatuck CC/Waterbury team being the ones that stood out. Al "Skinner" Fredericks later of UConn fame was on that team, great great guy as I've said before.

So much fun you tend to miss those days, the competitive nature stayed until about 28 or so when I realized the kids coming in were just better. But if I had to brag about something more than other it was the camaraderie from kids leagues to later on in life. The friends I made who had that same nature to get pumped up for a weekend doubleheader in New London CT vs the Vagabonds, or a city league championship hoops game even as we got older but loved the game. I remain good friends with many who shared these days and those times and man, those were the days!!

Cool to read these, nice job Kitaman!!!

 

[mustafa]

East Bank Club?

I had to look up the East Bank Club as I am in Chicago a lot.
WOW. This club is ridiculous. Might be the biggest fitness club I've ever seen. Has everything.
The outdoor pool location in amazing and has room for hundreds of people.
The cardio room has HUNDREDS of treadmills.
Pretty amazing.
I'll have to go the next time I'm in the area.

 

[QDOG5]

My HS freshman team went 9-0 in football, 15-0 in bball, and 9-0 in baseball before we lost a game. I had a great seat on the bench for all of it. My best streak is coming back to CT/Cape Cod for 21 straight years to have a golf weekend with seven of my best buddies from growing up.

 

[Deepster]

1984. My single mom had moved us out to southern California. I didn't want to move away from the east coast. We get there and these kids at my new school start picking on me. They were all in this local karate dojo and liked bullying everyone. One day, I'm getting beat up pretty good and the superintendent at the apartment building we had moved into jumps in and saves me. Nice guy. Older, Asian fellow. Anyway, long story short....he gets the sensei from the gang's dojo to stop picking on me, if I agree to enter the local karate tournament.

I did a lot of training the next few months and actually met this hot rich girl and we really hit it off. Fast forward to the tourney and, I used all the tactics my coach had taught me and, you're not gonna believe this.....I won the entire tournament. 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament Champ.

 

[Skiblets]

1984. My single mom had moved us out to southern California. I didn't want to move away from the east coast. We get there and these kids at my new school start picking on me. They were all in this local karate dojo and liked bullying everyone. One day, I'm getting beat up pretty good and the superintendent at the apartment building we had moved into jumps in and saves me. Nice guy. Older, Asian fellow. Anyway, long story short....he gets the sensei from the gang's dojo to stop picking on me, if I agree to enter the local karate tournament.

I did a lot of training the next few months and actually met this hot rich girl and we really hit it off. Fast forward to the tourney and, I used all the tactics my coach had taught me and, you're not gonna believe this.....I won the entire tournament. 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament Champ.

Deepster for the win. Drops the mic. Might as well close this thread

 

[mauconnfan]

1984. My single mom had moved us out to southern California. I didn't want to move away from the east coast. We get there and these kids at my new school start picking on me. They were all in this local karate dojo and liked bullying everyone. One day, I'm getting beat up pretty good and the superintendent at the apartment building we had moved into jumps in and saves me. Nice guy. Older, Asian fellow. Anyway, long story short....he gets the sensei from the gang's dojo to stop picking on me, if I agree to enter the local karate tournament.

I did a lot of training the next few months and actually met this hot rich girl and we really hit it off. Fast forward to the tourney and, I used all the tactics my coach had taught me and, you're not gonna believe this.....I won the entire tournament. 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament Champ.

 

[UofCT]

Summer of 1999 @ Camp Lakeland. Color War

Every Color War we have a massive SOCK GAME tournament. Every kid in my age group plays. Essentially you have a sock hanging out of your shorts, if your sock gets grabbed you get eliminated. You can't use your hands to block so you need be shifty and quick OR lurk in the corners until the very end.

This is color war so there are four total teams so there is some team strategy involved.

Fast forward to the very end and it's me versus two kids on the same team. They inexplicably split up in attempt to trap me. Bad move. I pulled both socks and won the game.

Best moment ever.

 

[CL82]

I actually caught the ball, stumbled back a step or two and when I went to throw the ball in, I dropped.

Haha, unconscious auto pilot. Love it when it takes a second for your brain to say "yeah... I'm just going to take a nap now."

 

[HuskyHawk]

I beat Cliff Robinson in darts at Ted's.

I did that, but it was fooseball and he was playing with Jeff King.

Aside from that:

• Played a midnight intramural basketball game while hammered. Whole team (21st birthday for one player). Lost like 78-24, but it was memorable!
• Was on intramural championship soccer and flag football teams at UConn (lots of track guys in the dorm), and a team that lost the championship game in softball to a team with three varsity baseball players (we had one).
• Dominated corporate league volleyball in Santa Clara Cty CA. I was once a pretty good 2 on 2 beach volleyball player, and few of those “casual” volleyballers could return my topspin jump serve.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I forgot winning a sit up championship in elementary school. I was super skinny, could do all sorts of moves on the gymnastics rings etc. because I was so light. Won the situp competition for the school, something over 1000 in a row. I might manage a dozen now.

 

[MyDorona]

Pitched a no-hitter when I was 12 and it made the Waterbury Republican-American! (It's been all down hill since then...)

 

[Ewekon]

What is your most memorable sports moment as a player or teammate? Any All State/American awardees? Any champions?

I have 2 memories:

Played HS football on a freshman team that was undefeated, unscored upon and beat the HS varsity team (who also didn't score). 12-0

Won an MVP award for basketball during a summer tournament. Was hot as hell hitting bombs from deep. Trophy award felt great, nice crowd outdoors in a public park.

As a kid I was well above average, I suppose. My LL all star team won 6 games when I was 11 and when twelve we got to Williamsport; but alas, didn't even win 1 game. Back in the Taiwan days.

And that was the peak. The pyramid narrows very rapidly by 16.

 

[wheelerdog]

Jimmy V called me lazy at basketball camp.

 

[JamesinGR]

Did you play your sophomore year at Tunxis as well? Played for Middlesex in '78 and '80, hoops and baseball. My brother coached baseball in 79 and 80 for Middlesex after being cut by the Mets. We would've played vs each other in 80 if you attended 2 years, but I can honestly say I didn't think Tunxis was very good in 80 don't remember '78, obviously very good in '79. They were good in hoops in '78 ranked in the country when we beat them in a slow down game at Plainville HS. It was in the 40's big upset for us. But as far as baseball in '80 the teams to beat were Housatonic and Manchester if I remember correctly and we beat them both in the double elimination tourney but didn't have the staff to close it and get to the regionals. I had some really good games in both hoops and baseball during my career, had lots of memories and made lots of friends to this day from all over central CT.

Nice job your freshman year though CC baseball was pretty damn good back in those days for sure!

Yes, played in 1980 but we fell off. Housatonic and Manchester both very tough in ‘79 and 80. In fact, we beat Manchester in 79 to make regionals as an 8 seed in an 8 team tourney. We upset 1 seed Mass Bay CC. And I recall you guys upsetting the ‘78 basketball team. That was huge for you guys. Good times and good memories.

 

[husky429]

Coach:

Never had a losing season as a basketball coach in AAU or HS. In games I head coached my record is (I think) 41-17. As an assistant no idea... but AAU tourneys are filled with terrible teams most of the time so it's gotta be solid.

2 state chamionships in track and field. 1 in XC (boys and girls are coached together)

Player:

Basketball? Nothing. I sucked. Was the best player on my hs team but that doesn't mean much when you move up. Went to a d2 school for basketball but basically never played. Got a partial scholarship my last 2 years though.

17-2 record as an amateur boxer s more of an accomplishment. Competed from age 16-23.

 

[Com'rGordon]

All conference basketball player here in Nebraska and went to college in Lincoln and made friends with Husker basketball player Thomas Allen (Brewster academy kid).

one time in the summer he texted me and told me they don’t have enough guys at their team open gym workout at the training facility so he asked me to come play. Played with him, Isaiah Roby, James Palmer Jr., etc.

Best day of my life

 

[Umami Zen]

Many of you have impressive stories/resumes..I can't compete with them but here are a few things I remember.

HS FB team was 24-2 for the three years I played.. Starter two years..Turned down D1 FB scholarships and went to a JUCO where many D1 recruits went to strengthen their academics and play for a season Our schedule was ranked as one of the toughest in the country.Didn't go out for team first year. "Walked on" after second game of second season and ended up leading team in tackles (MLB/DG)

Street ball/pick up BB player.. Shot 10 for 10 one game ..(game to 10) ..No shots under 15 ft. Regularly played with scholarship BB players in pick up games.

Played 2-man wallyball (volleyball inside a racquetball court) with an Olympic VB player who was my teammate. Fast game. Many VB Tournament stories.

Flipped a racing boat twice going 40MPH and survived.

Two-time cancer survivor.

 

[mauconnfan]

Many of you have impressive stories/resumes..I can't compete with them but here are a few things I remember.

HS FB team was 24-2 for the three years I played.. Starter two years..Turned down D1 FB scholarships and went to a JUCO where many D1 recruits went to strengthen their academics and play for a season Our schedule was ranked as one of the toughest in the country.Didn't go out for team first year. "Walked on" after second game of second season and ended up leading team in tackles (MLB/DG)

Street ball/pick up BB player.. Shot 10 for 10 one game ..(game to 10) ..No shots under 15 ft. Regularly played with scholarship BB players in pick up games.

Played 2-man wallyball (volleyball inside a racquetball court) with an Olympic VB player who was my teammate. Fast game. Many VB Tournament stories.

Flipped a racing boat twice going 40MPH and survived.

Two-time cancer survivor.

Lots of cool stuff and impressive but the most is the 2 time cancer survivor....God Bless and continued health.

 

[Pudge]

one other - around 1979 Spring

Alumni has a 6 on 6 soccer tournament where each floor had teams. I scored a hat trick (3 goals) against a Team with Jimmy Lynam + 2 other UCONN scholarship kids. I suspect they were stoned.

 

[Report Card]

Ran track for UConn 08-13'. Sophomore year won the 1000m Big East Championship despite being a heavy underdog to 2 ND Seniors who had run sub 4 min. miles that season. I ended up getting so much p&^%y from winning that race. Jk, but I do know a guy that did.