I love the Valley

[Pudge]

So reading the story about Derby Football is so very sad. When I was a young boy ... my Dad took me to Derby Shelton Thanksgiving Day game. John Pagliaro & Brian Pagliaro. The O'Connell Line guys that played for UConn. My cousin Mike was All State at DB. Lou DeFilippo was an iconic big deal. But not yet a teen Me ... they had a soccer style Kicker (and at that time, we weren't that far beyond the Gogolaks) that kicked a 50 yard FG. From Ecuador. This Town - where my Dad was Valedictorian and went to piddly UConn Pharmacy 15 miles away in New Haven then - had the immigrant culture of a different era. Now it is not that. I come from the biggest suburb in the Albany area and had a HS class of 745; there's no way we ever came close to the attendance at a Derby Shelton T-Day game. By a multiplier of 12 or so.

Derby down to less than a healthy roster.

The Valley is what Connecticut Football culture meant to me. It was tough kids and they were at UConn when I was a student. The games were big and townies were into them and attended them in big numbers. We are in a different era now. Great athletes may stay at their HS team. More than ever ... they probably need to be identified as 12-15 year olds and get to the well constructed Prep schools. Or gravitate to the better capitalized town teams. Our 2003 Fanbase is changing too. That makes Dave Benedict's job tougher. We can still have the sellouts and exciting games to fill the Rent with the good solid opposition. I think the AAC experiment underlines the key element: we have to have regional rivals.

 

[DoctorWho85]

The NVL is basically Ansonia then everyone else. Growing up in Wolcott I remember a kid got the game ball because we scored 1, that's 1 singular, touchdown for the Eagles against Ansonia.

 

[Pudge]

in one window in a far away time ... Derby was dominant and amazing. Yes I have watched Ansonia play often. It is a different decade and different football.

 

[BlueandOG]

I grew up in The Ripper, Shelton CT, and can attest to the awesomeness of Valley football back in the day. In high school I worked at KFC in Ansonia and used to talk a lot of smack about the inferior quality of Derby and Ansonia football. I miss those days!

 

[dvegas]

I grew up in The Ripper, Shelton CT, and can attest to the awesomeness of Valley football back in the day. In high school I worked at KFC in Ansonia and used to talk a lot of smack about the inferior quality of Derby and Ansonia football. I miss those days!

Is that the KFC on the Derby-Ansonia line that is/was owned by Bob Skoronski?

 

[HuskyDogArt]

Back in the late 60s to the mid 80s East Hartford and Penny was a great rivalry game... The town came out on Thanksgiving...

 

[chalk1]

Played for Amity high against those great Derby teams in the late 60's and early 70's. Derby was state champs in 1970 and although a small town, produced some big guys with talent. Also Shelton and Seymour were solid and very tough opponents.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

Wonderful memories. Keep them coming!

 

[businesslawyer]

The two QBs in my class ('81) at Trinity were both from the Valley, as were a large number of the players at Trinity. The best player in my four years there was an undersized WR from Ansonia named McNamara (I think Pat) who given his lack of size and speed had an abiliity to catch a contested ball that I've never seen before or since. At any level. Remember how under P Geremy Davis caught everything thrown at him? While he was bigger, stronger and faster, he wasn't in McNamara's league at getting the ball. I believe he passed away young. The two QBs I knew were Paul Romano from Ansonia, who coverted to CB and Gary "Mario" Palmer from Naugutuck. Both were both good guys and nice guys, even to non-football players who ended up becoming business lawyers.

 

[BlueandOG]

Is that the KFC on the Derby-Ansonia line that is/was owned by Bob Skoronski?

Heck yes! Except is was owned by Mr. Skoronski.

 

[History Geek]

Played for Amity high against those great Derby teams in the late 60's and early 70's. Derby was state champs in 1970 and although a small town, produced some big guys with talent. Also Shelton and Seymour were solid and very tough opponents.

I am also an Amity grad -- 1982. Our games against Derby were always slugfests. Also, Ryan Field was easily the best field I ever played on.

 

[buddy]

Is that the KFC on the Derby-Ansonia line that is/was owned by Bob Skoronski?

The entire corner property from south Division St/Pershing Drive was owned by the late Tony Roginel. There was a diner on the corner where there is currently a Mobil station and the KFC was next door. Derby was in the Housatonic League in the 60's-70's and had some great teams and great coaches for the smallest town in Ct. Biggest rival was Ansonia who for Derby was nonleague at that time, but that Shelton Thanksgiving Day game was always very exciting for everyone. In my time the Shelton games were at Lafayette Field, and I remember Derby fans tearing down the wooden goal posts after an exciting game. Shelton has now taken off as far as towns are concerned and unfortunately, Derby is not even in the same universe as Shelton anymore. It must be even more painful since the town of Derby was recently given a gift from an estate for 20 million dollars which renovated the athletic complex and brought a state of the art field house. Hopefully, they will be able to merge perhaps with another school and resume competition once again.

 

[Greathusky]

So reading the story about Derby Football is so very sad. When I was a young boy ... my Dad took me to Derby Shelton Thanksgiving Day game. John Pagliaro & Brian Pagliaro. The O'Connell Line guys that played for UConn. My cousin Mike was All State at DB. Lou DeFilippo was an iconic big deal. But not yet a teen Me ... they had a soccer style Kicker (and at that time, we weren't that far beyond the Gogolaks) that kicked a 50 yard FG. From Ecuador. This Town - where my Dad was Valedictorian and went to piddly UConn Pharmacy 15 miles away in New Haven then - had the immigrant culture of a different era. Now it is not that. I come from the biggest suburb in the Albany area and had a HS class of 745; there's no way we ever came close to the attendance at a Derby Shelton T-Day game. By a multiplier of 12 or so.

Derby down to less than a healthy roster.

The Valley is what Connecticut Football culture meant to me. It was tough kids and they were at UConn when I was a student. The games were big and townies were into them and attended them in big numbers. We are in a different era now. Great athletes may stay at their HS team. More than ever ... they probably need to be identified as 12-15 year olds and get to the well constructed Prep schools. Or gravitate to the better capitalized town teams. Our 2003 Fanbase is changing too. That makes Dave Benedict's job tougher. We can still have the sellouts and exciting games to fill the Rent with the good solid opposition. I think the AAC experiment underlines the key element: we have to have regional rivals.

I remember those days. I was a Shelton High graduate in 1975. I can still picture the Shelton/ Derby Thanksgiving day games watching from a window in Lafayette school in the late 60s. My grandfather was the janitor there so it was cool as a little kid watching everyone freeze their ass off down below while we had great seats.

My cousin Tommy Krugel was a star running back for Shelton then. It was amazing to me how small schools like Derby and Ansonia would produce powerhouses every year. My dad played for Derby in 1944 and was a fixture at Ryan Filed back then.

 

[dvegas]

I wonder if Dan Orlovsky lurks on this board? (that's him in my profile picture)

Would love a comment from him in this thread lol

 

[ElGuapo]

All the people I ever met out of the Valley were like mutants of some kind.
My theory is the toxic Mad and Naugatuck Rivers, from upstream heavy industry Waterbury, altered their DNA and turned them into that.

That said I always got along just fine with them as I am Plainville born and not in a position to cast judgement.
Whenener we've ever combined forces crazy things seemed to happen which I always enjoy.

 

[BlueandOG]

All the people I ever met out of the Valley were like mutants of some kind.
My theory is the toxic Mad and Naugatuck Rivers, from upstream heavy industry Waterbury, altered their DNA and turned them into that.

That said I always got along just fine with them as I am Plainville born and not in a position to cast judgement.
Whenener we've ever combined forces crazy things seemed to happen which I always enjoy.

I used to water ski at Indian Wells in Shelton on the mighty Housatonic. I would float in a mass of weeds until the boat pulled me up, waiting for a Jaws-like attack from one of those huge PCB-fed mutant eels that lived in the slime. My friends were blasting Motley Crue and drinking Bartles and Jaymes on the beach. Nothing better than the Valley in the '80s!

 

[John]

All the people I ever met out of the Valley were like mutants of some kind.
My theory is the toxic Mad and Naugatuck Rivers, from upstream heavy industry Waterbury, altered their DNA and turned them into that.

That said I always got along just fine with them as I am Plainville born and not in a position to cast judgement.
Whenener we've ever combined forces crazy things seemed to happen which I always enjoy.

there's a special mutation of melonheads living in the valley, Shelton I believe.

 

[chalk1]

Valley guys were different. My father was a mechanical engineer and ran several of the factories in the valley. All gone now. Got to work summer jobs like rigging, factory work, etc. Meet a lot guys from the valley doing the same thing. Their fathers often worked in these same factories and they were tough blue collar guys that instilled that in there kids. Once you got to know them and they accepted you, good times would roll. They were salt of the earth people and a lot of fun

 

[Milo65]

I played at Sheehan in the old Housy league. We would play Derby and Shelton and usually would get our doors kicked in. My junior year 1985, we had a really good team and went to Derby for a night game, both teams were undefeated and both teams would go on to win their class state championships. As a 17 year old kid from Wallingford, I was not prepared to see what felt like the entire Valley come out for a game. It wasn't even close and Derby went on to trounce us. The visiting locker room was on the first floor and the home team was on the second floor of an old wooden building, lets just say before the game and at half time the banging on the ceiling from 30-50 guys in cleats felt like an earthquake. Later that year we beat a really good Shelton team 6-0. It was a slugfest.

 

[BlueandOG]

I played at Sheehan in the old Housy league. We would play Derby and Shelton and usually would get our doors kicked in. My junior year 1985, we had a really good team and went to Derby for a night game, both teams were undefeated and both teams would go on to win their class state championships. As a 17 year old kid from Wallingford, I was not prepared to see what felt like the entire Valley come out for a game. It wasn't even close and Derby went on to trounce us. The visiting locker room was on the first floor and the home team was on the second floor of an old wooden building, lets just say before the game and at half time the banging on the ceiling from 30-50 guys in cleats felt like an earthquake. Later that year we beat a really good Shelton team 6-0. It was a slugfest.

I was a frosh at Shelton High that year! I remember the Sheehan game. You got lucky.

 

[Milo65]

I was a frosh at Shelton High that year! I remember the Sheehan game. You got lucky.

Our QB didn’t cross the goal line but they called it a TD and if I can remember your QB or RB was hurt? I also forgot that Seymour was also in the old Housy. I miss that league, can't get into the mega conferences.

 

[coachcap]

Our QB didn’t cross the goal line but they called it a TD and if I can remember your QB or RB was hurt? I also forgot that Seymour was also in the old Housy. I miss that league, can't get into the mega conferences.

Conferences of bygone years were intense. When Vinnie Clements played for Southington, the Blue Knights were in the old Central Valley Conference. Some of the teams included the Knights, Plainville, Rockville, & the old Pulaski High in New Britain. I think that Glastonbury was also in that conference. Back then Southington's Thanksgiving game was against Plainville, which at the time as the oldest high school rivalry in New England. All of the conference matchups were brawls & Pulaski won a couple of State Polls as the Number one team in the State when they were in the midst on their epic win streak that broke the previous State record held by...Southington.

 

[Nostical]

I never lived in the Valley but had the chance to meet an incredible family from Derby when I was involved with the settlement of a local restaurant explosion. The man who lost his wife and daughter in the explosion was Matthew Shortell and in all my dealings with families, what I witnessed between him and his grown children was the most respect I ever saw from children toward their father. It turns out he was also an amazing fan of Derby HS football and was known and loved by all in that town who affectionally called him "Pops".

 

[huskymedic]

I never lived in the Valley but had the chance to meet an incredible family from Derby when I was involved with the settlement of a local restaurant explosion. The man who lost his wife and daughter in the explosion was Matthew Shortell and in all my dealings with families, what I witnessed between him and his grown children was the most respect I ever saw from children toward their father. It turns out he was also an amazing fan of Derby HS football and was known and loved by all in that town who affectionally called him "Pops".

Pop Shortell was a bigger than life, kind hearted soul w/ an incredible family but he was Mr. Ansonia missing only one Ansonia High game in 500+ games..

 

[rentfan90]

Well said Pudge. The key to selling out the Rent is the grit and fire of the great players in the Valley and other parts of the state. Truly the rebirth of State U