Sort of OT: Play LL final at Shenkman

[ruskin]

This was suggested by a couple of high school writers Monday. Seems like logistical hurdles could be overcome. No big crowd and no bands & cheerleaders would stink, but beats not playing the game at all. CIAC declaring co-champs if game not played.

 

[Colt house75]

This was suggested by a couple of high school writers Monday. Seems like logistical hurdles could be overcome. No big crowd and no bands & cheerleaders would stink, but beats not playing the game at all. CIAC declaring co-champs if game not played.

Could it be put on CPTV?

 

[huskyrob1]

This was suggested by a couple of high school writers Monday. Seems like logistical hurdles could be overcome. No big crowd and no bands & cheerleaders would stink, but beats not playing the game at all. CIAC declaring co-champs if game not played.

Southington is a huge loser if the game is not played because beating Prep by an appreciable margin (not saying that would happen, but if it did) would give them a solid claim on #1 in the state poll. I think next year the CIAC should have the LL champ play the M champ, the L champ play the S champ, and then have the two winners battle it out for the absolute state championship. They should do it this year but it's too late, if they did that IMO New Canaan would take all the marbles anyway.

 

[Jimdish255]

Good idea but not allowing fans to see their teams would take the impetus away from even playing the game. However it would be interesting to investigate what fan friendly facilities might be available for future reference.

http://www.leagueathletics.com/?org=advantagefootballleague.com

This dome would probably not be the answer because of limitations but others may.

 

[freescooter]

I think this is long term a good thing. though I doubt it, maybe it brings some sanity back to high school football in this state. I read that some teams played 15 games...15 games is madness. A game Thursday, then Tuesday then Saturday is madness. These aren't 27 year old men. They are 14-18 year old kids. They ought to be playing a maximun of 10 games per season. So a couple of old guys can brag about how they won a state championship, they extend the season every year. And on top of that, I have no doubt that they will eliminate Thanksgiving games, which are major community events in many places, so that a few teams can play a post-season. heck that has already happened in my town because the 2 schools, one LL and the other L, were concerned that losing on Thanksgiving would adversely effect their playoff standings. So a game that drew 5-6000 every year, was the scene of unofficial high school reunions, family gatherings and such is no more. Not to mention that it keeps kids from playing the various winter sports like basketball, hockey, indoor track. Those seasons are either artificially delayed in order to accomodate football or the players miss out or get less than ideal recovery time between seasons. And again we're talking 14-18 year olds. Even college athletes take some time off between seasons. Distance runners, for example, often don't compete until January if they've run cross country. If it were my call, I'd scrap the whole system. Divide the State into 3 or 4 regions, and take the top 2 teams in each class in each region and let them play them play the 2nd Saturday after Thanksgiving. Fairfield and Litchfield would be the West. New Haven and the shoreline to the Connecticut River would be the South. Hartford would be the North and everything else east of the River would be the East. If the weather doesn't allow that, thank everyone for a job well done and move on to basketball.

 

[huskymedic]

Shenkman only works if there are no spectators (including family) allowed. There is zero sideline space for anyone but teams/coaches. No room for an additional 250+ people (if limited to parents only).

Many teams across the country who make a run through the play-offs - play 14-15 games (http://www.usatodayhss.com/rankings/)

Here is an interesting proposal on redistricting the current high school classes in CT. http://blog.ctnews.com/hssports/2013/05/24/what-if-ct-played-football-strictly-by-class-size/ (not perfect but not completely off the wall either - until politics come into play).

 

[coachRD]

I think this is long term a good thing. though I doubt it, maybe it brings some sanity back to high school football in this state. I read that some teams played 15 games...15 games is madness. A game Thursday, then Tuesday then Saturday is madness. These aren't 27 year old men. They are 14-18 year old kids. They ought to be playing a maximun of 10 games per season. So a couple of old guys can brag about how they won a state championship, they extend the season every year. And on top of that, I have no doubt that they will eliminate Thanksgiving games, which are major community events in many places, so that a few teams can play a post-season. heck that has already happened in my town because the 2 schools, one LL and the other L, were concerned that losing on Thanksgiving would adversely effect their playoff standings. So a game that drew 5-6000 every year, was the scene of unofficial high school reunions, family gatherings and such is no more. Not to mention that it keeps kids from playing the various winter sports like basketball, hockey, indoor track. Those seasons are either artificially delayed in order to accomodate football or the players miss out or get less than ideal recovery time between seasons. And again we're talking 14-18 year olds. Even college athletes take some time off between seasons. Distance runners, for example, often don't compete until January if they've run cross country. If it were my call, I'd scrap the whole system. Divide the State into 3 or 4 regions, and take the top 2 teams in each class in each region and let them play them play the 2nd Saturday after Thanksgiving. Fairfield and Litchfield would be the West. New Haven and the shoreline to the Connecticut River would be the South. Hartford would be the North and everything else east of the River would be the East. If the weather doesn't allow that, thank everyone for a job well done and move on to basketball.

I agree that any change in the season should NOT impact Thanksgiving Day games!

 

[gioff23]

This thread is full of reasons why CT HS FB is 3rd tier. Let's see, a bunch of kids living in New England cant play a FB game in the snow, or the day after, or the day after. We should play less games, because that is what they do in every other state. Let's play it indoors - and somewhere as far as possible from the teams playing and not invite fans, who can, well, watch their kids the other 14games. Hey, how about we have a couple of kids from the science class at each school play it out on x-box? I imagine they are debating playing less HS games in FL in Ag - Sept., because, well its hot and humid.

 

[freescooter]

Shenkman only works if there are no spectators (including family) allowed. There is zero sideline space for anyone but teams/coaches. No room for an additional 250+ people.

Many teams across the country who make a run through the play-offs - play 14-15 games (http://www.usatodayhss.com/rankings/)

Here is an interesting proposal on redistricting the current high school classes in CT. http://blog.ctnews.com/hssports/2013/05/24/what-if-ct-played-football-strictly-by-class-size/ (not perfect but not completely off the wall either - until politics come into play).

The fact that teams play more than 15 games doesn't make it right. Or even safe, frankly. And playing 4 games in 2 weeks is borderline child abuse. I sort of like the redistricting plan. Probably needs some tweaks, I'd go to bigger leagues, maybe 8 schools, and fewer playoff teams (I'm not a great believer of playoffs for high school football) and use my divisional Champs model.

Shenkman is a bad idea for many reasons, not the least of which is the lack of spectator space. It also sets a terrible precedent in my opinion.

 

[freescooter]

This thread is full of reasons why CT HS FB is 3rd tier. Let's see, a bunch of kids living in New England cant play a FB game in the snow, or the day after, or the day after. We should play less games, because that is what they do in every other state. Let's play it indoors - and somewhere as far as possible from the teams playing and not invite fans, who can, well, watch their kids the other 14games. Hey, how about we have a couple of kids from the science class at each school play it out on x-box? I imagine they are debating playing less HS games in FL in Ag - Sept., because, well its hot and humid.

Actually its not. the reason Connecticut high school football is 3rd tier is because of the way we deliver education, in relatively small town based school systems. So you have teams with 25-30 players, but the school only has 100 boys. The top players are widely dispersed. You might have a great quarterback in New London, but the best receiver is in Norwich but his quarterback is barely adequate. In Texas they'd both be in the same high school. Indeed when you have a high school that draws from a very large area, as Xavier in Middletown or Fairfield Prep or Notre Dame of West Haven does, you end up with multiple top players and usually better teams. Same thing happens when you have a larger public high school like Greenwich, New Britain or Hamden. Significantly larger student base. My town is class L with about 1200 kids of both sexes. In my brother's Dade County district it would be one "house" in a high school that serves 5000 plus. My nephew played in maryland where they had 4000 kids in his school and something like 100 players between freshmen, jv and varsity. Our local school football team is pretty good...made the playoffs the last 2 years, and just missed the year before. It has 1 player who is probably a D1 player. My brother's Dade florida high school has over 100 kids on the football team, with a separate freshman team of 40 or so. Our local team had its best turnout this year with just under 50 kids including frosh. those are the kind of things that make

 

[coachcap]

Just another reminder of the original Husky Stadium at Adrien's Landing pre interference by Bob Kraft. A 50,000 seat domed stadium to house UConn football & basketball in the era of disposable income.

 

[Adios]

I am still waiting for this damn game to happen. I should be there.

GO PREP!

 

[Carl Spackler]

Actually its not. the reason Connecticut high school football is 3rd tier is because of the way we deliver education, in relatively small town based school systems. So you have teams with 25-30 players, but the school only has 100 boys. The top players are widely dispersed. You might have a great quarterback in New London, but the best receiver is in Norwich but his quarterback is barely adequate. In Texas they'd both be in the same high school. Indeed when you have a high school that draws from a very large area, as Xavier in Middletown or Fairfield Prep or Notre Dame of West Haven does, you end up with multiple top players and usually better teams. Same thing happens when you have a larger public high school like Greenwich, New Britain or Hamden. Significantly larger student base. My town is class L with about 1200 kids of both s e xes. In my brother's Dade County district it would be one "house" in a high school that serves 5000 plus. My nephew played in maryland where they had 4000 kids in his school and something like 100 players between freshmen, jv and varsity. Our local school football team is pretty good...made the playoffs the last 2 years, and just missed the year before. It has 1 player who is probably a D1 player. My brother's Dade florida high school has over 100 kids on the football team, with a separate freshman team of 40 or so. Our local team had its best turnout this year with just under 50 kids including frosh. those are the kind of things that make

I agree with this. How bout that? One of the biggest reasons why you don't get powerhouse high school football teams garnering a lot of recognition, is because it's rare to be assemble a full varsity squad of players that are really good, because of the basic nature of how the school systems are set up. It also makes finding the talented players with lots of potential more difficult from a recruiting perspective and you got to maintain a LOT of connections as a local recruiter.

It's absolutely true, what Randy Edsall used to say, that players coming out of high school in CT weren't as developed, and college football ready at division 1A, as other players from out of state. It's mostly a product of the fact that it's really kind of rare to find really good players, that have been playing with an entire team of really good players for any amount of time in high school. Players get better, through competition with really good players in practice.

It's much less of a product of the restrictions on practice time that exist in CT - as has been portrayed and perpetuated before.

CT, and by extension most of New England and extending into New Jersey and the tri-state area, governs itself in a cultural socioeconomic/political structure that is very much different than the rest of the entire country. I don't say better, or worse, just different. The county level of governance is virtually non-existent in CT. People in places like the mid-west and deep south have no concept of what "small town politics" is in New England. As New Englanders, really have no concept of what counties mean in those same regions.

There are 169 towns/cities in CT with distinct borders. (Keep in mind the size of CT as compared to like - Florida where there are a total of about 850 towns and cities with distinct borders) Of those 169 towns the variation in the government structure, educational systems, varies immensely. There are 347 public/private high schools in CT total

There are 157 of those 347 high schools that have high school football teams in CT.

By comparison, there are 601 high school football teams in the entire state of Florida (less then double the number of teams in CT) (with nearly 4x more towns/cities) Florida's population density is 339 per square mile. CT is 780 per square mile. TX by comparison is 92 people per square mile. Btw.

There are 598 high school football teams in the entire state of Pennsylvania. There are 252 high school football teams in the entire state of Maryland.

There a 8 Counties in CT, and the 'county' level is virtually non-existent in the educational/government structure of how things get done locally.

Whatever - the point is - that football teams, really good ones, need lots of good players. Population and school demographics make that difficult, by sheer numbers, while in other places in the country, the simple structure of the school systems makes it easier to build a roster of highly talented players. The hotbeds of talent in CT and the northeast in general, have youth programs that are specializing and developing players from a very early age, and frankly - recruit players at the high school level. WE all know it happens, that local high school coaches have, and probably still are, looking for players outside their towns. You simply don't need to do that in place like a Dade County FL high school.

Here's a decent write up to try to sort out CT high school football. How to divide up high school football programs, is an ongoing problem.

http://blog.ctnews.com/hssports/2013/05/24/what-if-ct-played-football-strictly-by-class-size/


There are plenty of athletes in high school in CT that are capable of playing division 1A football, but as Randy Edsall learned, and Diaco I'm sure with either learn quickly or knows, it's difficult to find them, and it usually takes a little while to develop them, and the structure of the entire educational system in CT, is mostly to blame, and it's not really going to change.

Unfortunately, with only 15-20 scholarships or so a year to give out of a total of 85 on average, you have to be picky on the players you choose that need development time. You absolutely need a roster from top to bottom that can compete, to be a top 25 football program - that means incoming freshmen got to be able to play if they need to.

Long enough post for a snowy Tuesday?

 

[freescooter]

I agree with this. How bout that? One of the biggest reasons why you don't get powerhouse high school football teams garnering a lot of recognition, is because it's rare to be assemble a full varsity squad of players that are really good, because of the basic nature of how the school systems are set up. It also makes finding the talented players with lots of potential more difficult from a recruiting perspective and you got to maintain a LOT of connections as a local recruiter.

It's absolutely true, what Randy Edsall used to say, that players coming out of high school in CT weren't as developed, and college football ready at division 1A, as other players from out of state. It's mostly a product of the fact that it's really kind of rare to find really good players, that have been playing with an entire team of really good players for any amount of time in high school. Players get better, through competition with really good players in practice.

It's much less of a product of the restrictions on practice time that exist in CT - as has been portrayed and perpetuated before.

CT, and by extension most of New England and extending into New Jersey and the tri-state area, governs itself in a cultural socioeconomic/political structure that is very much different than the rest of the entire country. I don't say better, or worse, just different. The county level of governance is virtually non-existent in CT. People in places like the mid-west and deep south have no concept of what "small town politics" is in New England. As New Englanders, really have no concept of what counties mean in those same regions.

There are 169 towns/cities in CT with distinct borders. (Keep in mind the size of CT as compared to like - Florida where there are a total of about 850 towns and cities with distinct borders) Of those 169 towns the variation in the government structure, educational systems, varies immensely. There are 347 public/private high schools in CT total

There are 157 of those 347 high schools that have high school football teams in CT.

By comparison, there are 601 high school football teams in the entire state of Florida (less then double the number of teams in CT) (with nearly 4x more towns/cities) Florida's population density is 339 per square mile. CT is 780 per square mile. TX by comparison is 92 people per square mile. Btw.

There are 598 high school football teams in the entire state of Pennsylvania. There are 252 high school football teams in the entire state of Maryland.

There a 8 Counties in CT, and the 'county' level is virtually non-existent in the educational/government structure of how things get done locally.

Whatever - the point is - that football teams, really good ones, need lots of good players. Population and school demographics make that difficult, by sheer numbers, while in other places in the country, the simple structure of the school systems makes it easier to build a roster of highly talented players. The hotbeds of talent in CT and the northeast in general, have youth programs that are specializing and developing players from a very early age, and frankly - recruit players at the high school level. WE all know it happens, that local high school coaches have, and probably still are, looking for players outside their towns. You simply don't need to do that in place like a Dade County FL high school.

Here's a decent write up to try to sort out CT high school football. How to divide up high school football programs, is an ongoing problem.

http://blog.ctnews.com/hssports/2013/05/24/what-if-ct-played-football-strictly-by-class-size/


There are plenty of athletes in high school in CT that are capable of playing division 1A football, but as Randy Edsall learned, and Diaco I'm sure with either learn quickly or knows, it's difficult to find them, and it usually takes a little while to develop them, and the structure of the entire educational system in CT, is mostly to blame, and it's not really going to change.

Unfortunately, with only 15-20 scholarships or so a year to give out of a total of 85 on average, you have to be picky on the players you choose that need development time. You absolutely need a roster from top to bottom that can compete, to be a top 25 football program - that means incoming freshmen got to be able to play if they need to.

Long enough post for a snowy Tuesday?

Wow! Carl and I agreeing. coachRD agreeing with both of us. Its a Festivus miracle!

 

[huskyrob1]

Actually its not. the reason Connecticut high school football is 3rd tier is because of the way we deliver education, in relatively small town based school systems. So you have teams with 25-30 players, but the school only has 100 boys. The top players are widely dispersed. You might have a great quarterback in New London, but the best receiver is in Norwich but his quarterback is barely adequate. In Texas they'd both be in the same high school. Indeed when you have a high school that draws from a very large area, as Xavier in Middletown or Fairfield Prep or Notre Dame of West Haven does, you end up with multiple top players and usually better teams. Same thing happens when you have a larger public high school like Greenwich, New Britain or Hamden. Significantly larger student base. My town is class L with about 1200 kids of both s e xes. In my brother's Dade County district it would be one "house" in a high school that serves 5000 plus. My nephew played in maryland where they had 4000 kids in his school and something like 100 players between freshmen, jv and varsity. Our local school football team is pretty good...made the playoffs the last 2 years, and just missed the year before. It has 1 player who is probably a D1 player. My brother's Dade florida high school has over 100 kids on the football team, with a separate freshman team of 40 or so. Our local team had its best turnout this year with just under 50 kids including frosh. those are the kind of things that make

Your comment that I put in bold face, made me think of the New Canaan Rams 1968-1970 that went 34-0, arguably the greatest team in state history. Maybe the best high school QB in state history and certainly the greatest receiver in state history were both on that team. Many of the individual state passing records and receiving records that still stand today were set by those two players.

 

[zls44]

There's a joke here about the almighty CT HS FB coaches association, but I haven't quite found it yet.