I have a lot of them. I've been thinking about just putting them all up, but debating on where/when/how to do it. After a little consideration, this is what I'm doing:
I'll keep utilizing Facebook as a place to throw all the pictures. When I put pics on Facebook, I'm not touching them up before because who's got time for that? If there's something you'd want me to touch up, let me know and I'll sharpen it up or whatever it needs. Over the next week or two, I'll be sorting and putting all the pictures up in albums. What I've traditionally done is put them in albums by game, but to make it easier for everyone looking for their own shining faces, I'm going to now sort them by school. If you're a Burnt Hills football player and want to see yourself somewhere, look in the Burnt Hills football album. As you can tell, this is going to take a little while - which is why I don't promise it tonight, or this weekend. I have homework, work, and a life (ok, maybe not that.. but at least 2 out of 3).
My only problem - I regret to say that the laptop I stored all of my pictures from September 2013 through the back half of this September took a dump. There's a chance that I can maybe extract the pics from there, but it's pretty slim. So, the only ones I can draw from are ones that are already on FB, Instagram, and ones from September 8 of this year and on. It's still quite a nice sample set - at least for Section 2. Section 3 is kinda screwed unfortunately.
Stay tuned, I'll release something when I've got it all done!
Friday, November 7, 2014
Warriors Too Much For CCHS
Westhill 2, Catholic Central 0
When we get past sectional play, there should never be a gimme. Even for teams ranked #1 in the state, you hope games will be competitive all the way through once they start facing winners from other sections. The top-ranked Westhill team got a test on Tuesday night, but they were able to ward off danger like top-ranked teams do en route to a sub-regional W.
Since I haven't read an article on this yet, either way, that I was thinking 'holy shit, this is pretty biased' while reading it, I'll be the impartial one in this article. No Syracuse or Albany (well, Troy) bias. Pretty even first 30 minutes in Fulton for this one. A lot of play between the 18s, but it was fast-paced. Fast play favors CCHS, but as I mentioned in the preview, both teams can win playing at any pace at this point, so it's not like it hurt Westhill. The Warriors let loose a couple shots on goal that Dom Stavis had to work in order to save, and the Big 3 of Riffelbach, Purcell, and Drake made things happen at times, but Westhill's defense was able to recover and at least not give the 85 goal trio great looks. Arlana Henneberry had to do some work early in goal for Westhill, but the Warrior strikers were giving Stavis more issues than CCHS' were giving her. Westhill was able to break through in the 33rd minute thanks to a finish from freshman Katelyn Karleski. Jayanna Monds was able to put pressure on the Crusader defense, and the ball was eventually hit back out to a trailing Karleski on the right side, who was able to sail an open look through with 7:29 left in the half.
As the 2nd half started, you still got the feel that it was anyone's game to be had. Westhill had a 1 goal lead, and they lock teams up: but CCHS is a different animal offensively. CCHS hadn't been shut out all year - as a matter of fact, they hadn't even been held to just 1 goal all year - but Westhill is a different animal defensively. In the battle of great offense vs. great defense, the D generally trumped the O. The Crusaders were very rarely able to get the ball to Riffelbach in open space. Many of her 39 goals have come from being able to beat defenders up the field, but with her being marked at all times by a physical defender, she wasn't able to roam. Purcell occasionally got some room, but she was being hounded too. Even if she got a nice ball through, a defender was able to recover in time to clear it. On the other end, Jayanna Monds was starting to get herself going. Most of the time, one defender wasn't enough to contain her. She was able to lay a couple passes in the box, but they were knocked away. She got a couple shots off, but they were off frame. Then there was the time 3 defenders couldn't handle her. She got the ball 50 yards out, beat one defender. Kept making her run a little left of center, zig zagged through another 2 defenders. With the ball rapidly rolling toward the end line, she got her left foot on the outside of the ball and snuck it in the bottom left of goal underneath an approaching Stavis to make it 2-0 with 23:07 left. Damn, that was good. She knew it too. Walked back after she did it. No celebration. She had the 'f with me, you know I got it' look. That's when it was over. CCHS was able to get some fine looks late, but Henneberry did fine work. Purcell let a low ball rocket toward the bottom left of goal with 15 minutes and change left, but Henneberry dove to her right and knocked it out of play. On the ensuing corner, Lauren Drake got her head on it, and Henneberry made the save going to her left. Lexi Riff got one off that she saved. Tough. Westhill was able to finish the job off, getting a regular clean sheet for them but against an opponent who was far from used to the clean sheet treatment.
There's a reason they're #1 in the state. Hell, they might be the only team in the state in Class B that could shut Catholic Central out. This game showed me two things: how good Westhill is, and how far Catholic Central has come. With no disrespect to Troy and Albany, Westhill is way better. I saw those schools put a couple goals up on CCHS earlier in the season, and if CCHS was the same in November defensively as they were in September, Westhill would score 10. Their defenders came a long way, Stavis stepped up to the challenge, and they treated defense more as a team effort than a 'well, that's their job' attitude. Westhill is just so solid. They were the team to beat in Section III, Class B all year. There's a reason for it. Offensively, defensively, in goal. You really can't find a weakness, even if you're looking for one. It helps that Jayanna Monds is a stud, but their other scoring options are solid enough on their own that you can't necessarily call them a 'supporting cast'. They don't have mental lapses. Find me a team without weaknesses on the field that also doesn't ever take a play off, and I'll show you a team that has every chance of becoming a state champion. That's the Warriors for you.
When we get past sectional play, there should never be a gimme. Even for teams ranked #1 in the state, you hope games will be competitive all the way through once they start facing winners from other sections. The top-ranked Westhill team got a test on Tuesday night, but they were able to ward off danger like top-ranked teams do en route to a sub-regional W.
Since I haven't read an article on this yet, either way, that I was thinking 'holy shit, this is pretty biased' while reading it, I'll be the impartial one in this article. No Syracuse or Albany (well, Troy) bias. Pretty even first 30 minutes in Fulton for this one. A lot of play between the 18s, but it was fast-paced. Fast play favors CCHS, but as I mentioned in the preview, both teams can win playing at any pace at this point, so it's not like it hurt Westhill. The Warriors let loose a couple shots on goal that Dom Stavis had to work in order to save, and the Big 3 of Riffelbach, Purcell, and Drake made things happen at times, but Westhill's defense was able to recover and at least not give the 85 goal trio great looks. Arlana Henneberry had to do some work early in goal for Westhill, but the Warrior strikers were giving Stavis more issues than CCHS' were giving her. Westhill was able to break through in the 33rd minute thanks to a finish from freshman Katelyn Karleski. Jayanna Monds was able to put pressure on the Crusader defense, and the ball was eventually hit back out to a trailing Karleski on the right side, who was able to sail an open look through with 7:29 left in the half.
As the 2nd half started, you still got the feel that it was anyone's game to be had. Westhill had a 1 goal lead, and they lock teams up: but CCHS is a different animal offensively. CCHS hadn't been shut out all year - as a matter of fact, they hadn't even been held to just 1 goal all year - but Westhill is a different animal defensively. In the battle of great offense vs. great defense, the D generally trumped the O. The Crusaders were very rarely able to get the ball to Riffelbach in open space. Many of her 39 goals have come from being able to beat defenders up the field, but with her being marked at all times by a physical defender, she wasn't able to roam. Purcell occasionally got some room, but she was being hounded too. Even if she got a nice ball through, a defender was able to recover in time to clear it. On the other end, Jayanna Monds was starting to get herself going. Most of the time, one defender wasn't enough to contain her. She was able to lay a couple passes in the box, but they were knocked away. She got a couple shots off, but they were off frame. Then there was the time 3 defenders couldn't handle her. She got the ball 50 yards out, beat one defender. Kept making her run a little left of center, zig zagged through another 2 defenders. With the ball rapidly rolling toward the end line, she got her left foot on the outside of the ball and snuck it in the bottom left of goal underneath an approaching Stavis to make it 2-0 with 23:07 left. Damn, that was good. She knew it too. Walked back after she did it. No celebration. She had the 'f with me, you know I got it' look. That's when it was over. CCHS was able to get some fine looks late, but Henneberry did fine work. Purcell let a low ball rocket toward the bottom left of goal with 15 minutes and change left, but Henneberry dove to her right and knocked it out of play. On the ensuing corner, Lauren Drake got her head on it, and Henneberry made the save going to her left. Lexi Riff got one off that she saved. Tough. Westhill was able to finish the job off, getting a regular clean sheet for them but against an opponent who was far from used to the clean sheet treatment.
There's a reason they're #1 in the state. Hell, they might be the only team in the state in Class B that could shut Catholic Central out. This game showed me two things: how good Westhill is, and how far Catholic Central has come. With no disrespect to Troy and Albany, Westhill is way better. I saw those schools put a couple goals up on CCHS earlier in the season, and if CCHS was the same in November defensively as they were in September, Westhill would score 10. Their defenders came a long way, Stavis stepped up to the challenge, and they treated defense more as a team effort than a 'well, that's their job' attitude. Westhill is just so solid. They were the team to beat in Section III, Class B all year. There's a reason for it. Offensively, defensively, in goal. You really can't find a weakness, even if you're looking for one. It helps that Jayanna Monds is a stud, but their other scoring options are solid enough on their own that you can't necessarily call them a 'supporting cast'. They don't have mental lapses. Find me a team without weaknesses on the field that also doesn't ever take a play off, and I'll show you a team that has every chance of becoming a state champion. That's the Warriors for you.
#TooEasyTuesday - Red Rams Roll
Jamesville-Dewitt 6, Scotia-Glenville 0
If you're an avid watcher of sports at any level, you realize that you'll get one of those games that you really can't believe what you're seeing on rare occasion. This game was that rare occasion. When one team fires on all cylinders from the opening minute and the other can never get out of 1st gear, beatdowns happen. Even when it's sectional champions battling each other. Jamesville-Dewitt, ranked #2 in the state in Class A, came out of the gates with guns a-blazin' and turned a hot start into a match that felt more like a beginner playing against the all-star rating on FIFA.
It didn't take long for J-D to get going, so I won't take long to get going either. Alex Catanzarite got them on the board in less time than the length of an average song. It was all speed from the striker, blowing by a Scotia defender to finish off against the sitting duck GK to put J-D up 1-0 2:40 into the game. They continued to put pressure on. Sherling in between the soccer & football crossbars. Sherling header just high. Kopp header just wide. Kopp shot just wide. So many close calls. Speed killed for their 2nd one as well though, when Amber Hyatt sped forward to get position against a Tartan defender on a run, and a long throw-in that took a couple hops went right to her feet. Hyatt bagged it, making it 2-0 with 29:26 left in the half. Scotia started to settle in after that - JD GK Maddy Frank saw the ball for the first time in the match a few minutes later. That changed though, and in a hurry. One goal, then another, then another, and wait.. this is a regional? Damn. Ali Durkin finished a ball from Erin Brinley, then Catanzarite had a pair of assists on Alex Epifani and Paige Sherling goals. Those 3, putting J-D up 5-0, took 3:34 to happen. Caroline Kopp finished off the half, dribbling through defenders like it was drill time and finishing at the end. That goal in the 39th minute made it 6-0. Scotia was a little more aggressive in the 2nd half - Dom Puglisi in particular was able to make some things happen running up the left side - but nothing materialized, and 6-0 it remained.
I unofficially gave J-D a 25-0 edge in shots. Maybe you could say Scotia had a shot, but ehh... it was a cross that kinda came close to the goal. 19 of those Red Ram shots came in the first half, along with 7 of their 9 corners. Maddy Frank only touched the ball a couple times. Not much to talk about with numbers besides 6-0. J-D was impressive. You can tell it's a team that had basically everyone back from a team that made it that far last year. They're fast defensively, plastering up holes quickly. They time runs so well - that can't be said enough. With a team that attacked that much, and all of their goals basically coming off good runs, how were they only offsides one time? And that one being someone running back on, for that matter? They're such a disciplined group, and certainly deserving of that #2 ranking in the state. Everyone always says 'this is our year'. This might be J-D's year.
If you're an avid watcher of sports at any level, you realize that you'll get one of those games that you really can't believe what you're seeing on rare occasion. This game was that rare occasion. When one team fires on all cylinders from the opening minute and the other can never get out of 1st gear, beatdowns happen. Even when it's sectional champions battling each other. Jamesville-Dewitt, ranked #2 in the state in Class A, came out of the gates with guns a-blazin' and turned a hot start into a match that felt more like a beginner playing against the all-star rating on FIFA.
It didn't take long for J-D to get going, so I won't take long to get going either. Alex Catanzarite got them on the board in less time than the length of an average song. It was all speed from the striker, blowing by a Scotia defender to finish off against the sitting duck GK to put J-D up 1-0 2:40 into the game. They continued to put pressure on. Sherling in between the soccer & football crossbars. Sherling header just high. Kopp header just wide. Kopp shot just wide. So many close calls. Speed killed for their 2nd one as well though, when Amber Hyatt sped forward to get position against a Tartan defender on a run, and a long throw-in that took a couple hops went right to her feet. Hyatt bagged it, making it 2-0 with 29:26 left in the half. Scotia started to settle in after that - JD GK Maddy Frank saw the ball for the first time in the match a few minutes later. That changed though, and in a hurry. One goal, then another, then another, and wait.. this is a regional? Damn. Ali Durkin finished a ball from Erin Brinley, then Catanzarite had a pair of assists on Alex Epifani and Paige Sherling goals. Those 3, putting J-D up 5-0, took 3:34 to happen. Caroline Kopp finished off the half, dribbling through defenders like it was drill time and finishing at the end. That goal in the 39th minute made it 6-0. Scotia was a little more aggressive in the 2nd half - Dom Puglisi in particular was able to make some things happen running up the left side - but nothing materialized, and 6-0 it remained.
I unofficially gave J-D a 25-0 edge in shots. Maybe you could say Scotia had a shot, but ehh... it was a cross that kinda came close to the goal. 19 of those Red Ram shots came in the first half, along with 7 of their 9 corners. Maddy Frank only touched the ball a couple times. Not much to talk about with numbers besides 6-0. J-D was impressive. You can tell it's a team that had basically everyone back from a team that made it that far last year. They're fast defensively, plastering up holes quickly. They time runs so well - that can't be said enough. With a team that attacked that much, and all of their goals basically coming off good runs, how were they only offsides one time? And that one being someone running back on, for that matter? They're such a disciplined group, and certainly deserving of that #2 ranking in the state. Everyone always says 'this is our year'. This might be J-D's year.
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
The Preview: Class A & Class B Regionals
Heading to Fulton today, the land of Lake Ontario, strong wind, and (thankfully not today) lake-effect snow. Scotia/J-D and CCHS/Westhill. Let's talk about them quick.
Scotia-Glenville girls soccer has their first sectional title in 12 years. Jamesville-Dewitt now has their 6th title in 6. For the first time in that run, they're not playing Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, who fell just short of winning 10 straight titles. The Tartans are just a solid team across the board. Skilled enough to beat you in an uptempo game, physical enough to grind one out against you. There's a reason they were able to convincingly slay the dragon. Dom Puglisi is one of the most impressive players I've watched this season - 8 goals, but 24 assists and almost never makes the wrong play. She feeds the monster that is the balanced Scotia offense - 97 goals this year, and no one has 20. Gracie Mailey leads the way with 18, but Abby O'Connor and Maddy Carroll are both in double digits too, and Kelsey Martin will be if she scores tonight. Winners of 16 straight over the last 2 months, they're looking to keep rolling. Can't get a more difficult challenge than J-D though. They lost to Burnt Hills at this stage last year... with basically the same team. They only lost 3 players from that regional squad, and they're as strong defensively as you could hope for. I can say the same thing about the home team on the scoreboard as I did for S-G. They're skilled enough to beat you in fast break soccer, and they're physical enough to put the hurt on in a physical game. Did I mention they D you up? Something like 8 GAA all year. Sophomore Alex Catanzarite made an enormous jump from last year, now leading J-D with 19 goals & 8 assists. Other usual suspects Paige Sherling, Caroline Kopp (always dangerous on free kicks), and Amber Hyatt make the Red Rams oh-so worthy of that #2 ranking they've had all season long. Two teams with similar styles duking it out - skilled, yet physical. They take their opportunities when they get them, but they're cool with playing slower and controlling it a little bit. This one is more of a chess match. Let's see who outwits the other.
And then the nightcap. Unlike the first game, we've got contrasting styles here. When you make it this far, not only does it mean you're pretty damn good, it also means you've improved over the season. Catholic Central exemplifies that. If you asked me at the beginning of the season, I wouldn't be so confident that they could beat another good team in a 1-0 or 2-1 game. That's changed. The Crusaders are like a bottle rocket. When they get room and are able to explode... oooh, ahhh. 3 goals in 2 minutes. Oooh, that was quick. They will still make mistakes. They'll still give up goals. Their willingness to sacrifice whatever to not break has been the difference for them. The defense has bent and twice in the last 2 games, the ball's made it past GK Dom Stavis - only to be booted away by a retreating defender right before it hits the goal line. Didn't matter as much when they cranked Hoosick Falls in the semi, but in a 1 goal OT game in the finals... all the difference in the world. Oh yeah, they've got the Big 3. Alexis Riffelbach, Section 2's leading scorer with 39 goals (18 assists too) leads the charge. Madison Purcell, the lone senior of the 3 - making the trip near her future college, as she's a LeMoyne hoops commit - has 25 goals & a Section 2 leading 31 assists. Lauren Drake has went ballistic in postseason play, nearly doubling her regular season output already, and she's got 21 & 11. Well, there you have it. The team has scored 95 goals this year, and they have 85 of them. They make things happen. The bottle rockets take on the Mack truck (ha, get it. Westhill's playing CCHS. I threw a Mack reference in there. Like Anthony. Heh.) in the Westhill Warriors. Once Westhill gets going, good luck slowing them down. They're a very solid team top to bottom, and they very rarely break down in the back. They're so strong defensively, it was a defender who won the sectional tournament MOP. They have also improved - they'll give you scoring from almost anywhere, so sophomore standout Jayanna Monds has some pressure relieved, and defenses can't key in on just her. It was her older sister, Tatiana, who got her 6th of the year in their 1-0 sectional final win over Lowville. They've given up just 15 goals on the season, with 1/3 of them being to A champ J-D. They don't score quite as much, but it's also an option-loaded squad. Jayanna has 18 & 10 to lead the top-ranked Warriors, but 6 in all have 5+ goals. This one's going to be very interesting. This is CCHS' first sectional title in girls soccer, and it's Westhill's first since my senior year of HS (fall 2008). Their styles of play are very different, but they've shown they can win at each other's style now. You pick 'em. I'm not.
The Rest
1.) I'll number these.
2.) Scotia/J-D, CCHS/Westhill... who else would want to see these matchups in boys basketball? Cremo vs. DeRegis, Stopera vs. Dourdas, etc... I know Coach Giammattei & Coach McKenney have seen quite a bit of each other in regionals. Maybe even this year! Won't have the chance for CCHS/Westhill, but oh boy... Raiquis Harris (D1 interest), Anthony Mack (D1 lock), Brian Brooks (#ShiftTeam) vs. Jordan Roland (George Washington commit), Tyler Reynolds (D1 lock), Jeff Lobello (Mr. Calm, Cool, & Collected)... yo, make it happen!
3.) Section 2 people that haven't been to Fulton before... beware of winds coming off Lake Ontario. They're strong & cold. You're damn lucky it's too warm for lake-effect snow. Y'all don't know 'bout that...
4.) If you're not going to Tully's after for food, it's really time to reevaluate life choices!!!
Scotia-Glenville girls soccer has their first sectional title in 12 years. Jamesville-Dewitt now has their 6th title in 6. For the first time in that run, they're not playing Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, who fell just short of winning 10 straight titles. The Tartans are just a solid team across the board. Skilled enough to beat you in an uptempo game, physical enough to grind one out against you. There's a reason they were able to convincingly slay the dragon. Dom Puglisi is one of the most impressive players I've watched this season - 8 goals, but 24 assists and almost never makes the wrong play. She feeds the monster that is the balanced Scotia offense - 97 goals this year, and no one has 20. Gracie Mailey leads the way with 18, but Abby O'Connor and Maddy Carroll are both in double digits too, and Kelsey Martin will be if she scores tonight. Winners of 16 straight over the last 2 months, they're looking to keep rolling. Can't get a more difficult challenge than J-D though. They lost to Burnt Hills at this stage last year... with basically the same team. They only lost 3 players from that regional squad, and they're as strong defensively as you could hope for. I can say the same thing about the home team on the scoreboard as I did for S-G. They're skilled enough to beat you in fast break soccer, and they're physical enough to put the hurt on in a physical game. Did I mention they D you up? Something like 8 GAA all year. Sophomore Alex Catanzarite made an enormous jump from last year, now leading J-D with 19 goals & 8 assists. Other usual suspects Paige Sherling, Caroline Kopp (always dangerous on free kicks), and Amber Hyatt make the Red Rams oh-so worthy of that #2 ranking they've had all season long. Two teams with similar styles duking it out - skilled, yet physical. They take their opportunities when they get them, but they're cool with playing slower and controlling it a little bit. This one is more of a chess match. Let's see who outwits the other.
And then the nightcap. Unlike the first game, we've got contrasting styles here. When you make it this far, not only does it mean you're pretty damn good, it also means you've improved over the season. Catholic Central exemplifies that. If you asked me at the beginning of the season, I wouldn't be so confident that they could beat another good team in a 1-0 or 2-1 game. That's changed. The Crusaders are like a bottle rocket. When they get room and are able to explode... oooh, ahhh. 3 goals in 2 minutes. Oooh, that was quick. They will still make mistakes. They'll still give up goals. Their willingness to sacrifice whatever to not break has been the difference for them. The defense has bent and twice in the last 2 games, the ball's made it past GK Dom Stavis - only to be booted away by a retreating defender right before it hits the goal line. Didn't matter as much when they cranked Hoosick Falls in the semi, but in a 1 goal OT game in the finals... all the difference in the world. Oh yeah, they've got the Big 3. Alexis Riffelbach, Section 2's leading scorer with 39 goals (18 assists too) leads the charge. Madison Purcell, the lone senior of the 3 - making the trip near her future college, as she's a LeMoyne hoops commit - has 25 goals & a Section 2 leading 31 assists. Lauren Drake has went ballistic in postseason play, nearly doubling her regular season output already, and she's got 21 & 11. Well, there you have it. The team has scored 95 goals this year, and they have 85 of them. They make things happen. The bottle rockets take on the Mack truck (ha, get it. Westhill's playing CCHS. I threw a Mack reference in there. Like Anthony. Heh.) in the Westhill Warriors. Once Westhill gets going, good luck slowing them down. They're a very solid team top to bottom, and they very rarely break down in the back. They're so strong defensively, it was a defender who won the sectional tournament MOP. They have also improved - they'll give you scoring from almost anywhere, so sophomore standout Jayanna Monds has some pressure relieved, and defenses can't key in on just her. It was her older sister, Tatiana, who got her 6th of the year in their 1-0 sectional final win over Lowville. They've given up just 15 goals on the season, with 1/3 of them being to A champ J-D. They don't score quite as much, but it's also an option-loaded squad. Jayanna has 18 & 10 to lead the top-ranked Warriors, but 6 in all have 5+ goals. This one's going to be very interesting. This is CCHS' first sectional title in girls soccer, and it's Westhill's first since my senior year of HS (fall 2008). Their styles of play are very different, but they've shown they can win at each other's style now. You pick 'em. I'm not.
The Rest
1.) I'll number these.
2.) Scotia/J-D, CCHS/Westhill... who else would want to see these matchups in boys basketball? Cremo vs. DeRegis, Stopera vs. Dourdas, etc... I know Coach Giammattei & Coach McKenney have seen quite a bit of each other in regionals. Maybe even this year! Won't have the chance for CCHS/Westhill, but oh boy... Raiquis Harris (D1 interest), Anthony Mack (D1 lock), Brian Brooks (#ShiftTeam) vs. Jordan Roland (George Washington commit), Tyler Reynolds (D1 lock), Jeff Lobello (Mr. Calm, Cool, & Collected)... yo, make it happen!
3.) Section 2 people that haven't been to Fulton before... beware of winds coming off Lake Ontario. They're strong & cold. You're damn lucky it's too warm for lake-effect snow. Y'all don't know 'bout that...
4.) If you're not going to Tully's after for food, it's really time to reevaluate life choices!!!
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Crusaders Bounce Back, Bring B Title Home
CCHS 2, Voorheesville 1 (OT)
This type of game is what you hope for in a sectional final. The type of game that, whether win, lose, or just watch, you won't be forgetting for a long time.
After looking like they had it wrapped up in regulation, a misplayed ball and a high bounce became an unreal fluke goal to initially rip it away from Catholic Central. However, they were able to regain their composure and eventually get a fortuitous bounce of their own, which helped them bring home a title.
It was cold. And rainy. And cold. And windy. Really windy. Did I mention cold? It was the type of weather that I tried to come up with a 'only (enter name here) could love' line for, but gave up because I don't think anyone could love it. There was a pretty strong diagonal wind blowing which could put one team downwind and one upwind, but couldn't help anyone. CCHS went that semi-downwind in the first half, and controlled over the last 20 minutes but couldn't finish anything off. The Blackbirds, a 5 seed that won a legitimate road game and a neutral site game against the #1 team in the state, Schalmont, to get here, picked it up to start the 2nd half. They evened play, and a lot of it was physicality. CCHS normally gets into opponents' heads with their physicality, but the reverse was happening for a little while on this day. For the majority of the contest, Blackbird defenders were able to neutralize Alexis Riffelbach and Madison Purcell. Easier said than done.
For the first 30 minutes of the 2nd half, Voorheesville's chances were better too. Shot just wide left. Shot juuust wide right. Shot off the post. Shot that made it past GK Dominique Stavis on goal but was deflected away by a defender. The chances were there. They weren't able to capitalize. Along with that, they forgot about one thing for a minute; hey, mark Lauren Drake too. Drizzy sometimes isn't in the limelight because of Riffelbach and Purcell, but she's every bit of a stud, too. 7 goals in 3 sectional games before this one, including back-to-back hat tricks - make that 8 goals in sectionals and 22 for the season when the Voorheesville D lapsed for a minute. Lauren got a couple steps of separation and snuck one underneath the top post from a little outside the 18 with 6:17 remaining. From that point on, it was about holding on for dear life because you knew the Voorheesville last chance onslaught was coming. A couple dangerous balls were cleared away, and it looked like the Crusaders would hold on.
Oh, how were we so naive? In the waning seconds, the ball was cleared to Lydia Parker over 40 yards away from goal. She booted one towards the goal, and Stavis approached it as if it would take a grass field bounce - either that, or she wasn't sure if she should charge at it and get it in the air or just hang out and let it bounce to her. Whatever it may be, it took a high bounce on the new turf field and got over her hands straight into the netting, knotting it up at 1 with 20 seconds remaining in regulation. The borderline miraculous goal by a girl with just 2 goals & 2 assists on the season beforehand gave Voorheesville new life. That new life lasted into the first OT...
Let's talk about Dom Stavis for a minute. She let that goal go through on a ball everyone knew she wished she could have. It takes mental toughness to recover from that and handle business as quickly as she was called upon, and most people - especially high schoolers - will shut down from that. She didn't. Voorheesville put two shots on goal 3 minutes into the first extra time session - one that was another tricky bounce that she needed to lay out for, and a second shot that was right to her, but low and hard. She handled both without a problem. Those saves ended the Blackbird push, and CCHS was able to build a little bit of pressure late in the 1st session. Things always tend to work themselves out in the long run. Early in the 2nd session, the aforementioned Madison Purcell - 25 goal scorer who is a LeMoyne commit for basketball - knocked a free kick inside the box from 35 yards out. Voorheesville GK Jordan Pettograsso slid down to catch it, but the ball bounced off her chest and out of reach. As she was trying to dive forward for it, a defender and Alexis Riffelbach were going for it as well. From my angle, it looked like the defender was who hit it, but I had the bad one, as it was Lexi Riff. Regardless of who hit it, the ball hit the back of the net and Riffelbach got with her 39th goal of the season - and I'm going to assume the one she likes the most - with 9:00 to play in the 2nd session. Voorheesville tried to throw the kitchen sink at Catholic Central late, eventually letting a couple more shots loose, but the Crusaders were able to ward it off and boot the ball away from danger every time. It took 100 minutes, but when all was said and done, CCHS was able to call themselves sectional champs in girls soccer for the first time in its history.
The Rest
I've probably watched CCHS girls soccer more this year than any other team in any sport. Giving a quick look through my game log, I think this marked the 7th time. They've had the offensive firepower from the start, but two things have pushed them over the top since the beginning of the year: defensive improvements and the emergence of Lauren Drake. At the beginning of the season, they appeared to be a team that could outscore nearly anyone with their skill and speed up top, but I was far less confident if the game was a 1-0 or 2-1 game. They buckled down defensively. It wasn't always pretty, but the job got done. In each of their last 2 games, a CCHS player knocked away a sure goal right by the line after it got past the keeper. It was one thing against Hoosick Falls, a 6-2 final. Imagine this game if a CCHS defender hadn't knocked a 2nd half shot away from the goal line? We'd probably be talking about Voorheesville winning. The emergence of Heartbreak Drake can't be understated - at least heartbreak for the teams that underrated her. At the beginning of the season, it was Riffelbach, Purcell... and oh yeah that #3 girl is decent too. Now, it's Riffelbach, Purcell, and Drake. No question that the dynamic duo up front is now a big 3. In 16 regular season games, she registered 13 goals & 7 assists. Not bad. In the 4 sectional games, she added on 8 goals & 4 assists to that total, including hat tricks in the quarterfinal and semifinal games. Teams didn't show her as much attention in their gameplan as the other two, and she responded in the best way possible for her team... CCHS has scored 95 goals on the season. 85 of them have come from Riffelbach (39), Purcell (25), and Drake (21)... 2 goals scored for them matched their lowest output of the season. They beat Troy 2-1 twice... The 1st time sectional champs now play Westhill of Section 3 in always cold & windy Fulton on Tuesday. The Warriors are no stranger to success, but it's their first time coming out of Section 3 in 6 years. Their only loss is to 6 time defending Section 3 Class A champ Jamesville-Dewitt. 6 players have scored 5+ goals for them, led by sophomore Jayanna Monds (18). They've given up just 16 goals on the season (5 to J-D) and 1 in sectionals... I told you I'm initially a Section 3 guy. Of course I know this stuff... Good luck to both teams. I'm close with some people in the Westhill district, and the CCHS crew has been nice enough to me!
This type of game is what you hope for in a sectional final. The type of game that, whether win, lose, or just watch, you won't be forgetting for a long time.
After looking like they had it wrapped up in regulation, a misplayed ball and a high bounce became an unreal fluke goal to initially rip it away from Catholic Central. However, they were able to regain their composure and eventually get a fortuitous bounce of their own, which helped them bring home a title.
It was cold. And rainy. And cold. And windy. Really windy. Did I mention cold? It was the type of weather that I tried to come up with a 'only (enter name here) could love' line for, but gave up because I don't think anyone could love it. There was a pretty strong diagonal wind blowing which could put one team downwind and one upwind, but couldn't help anyone. CCHS went that semi-downwind in the first half, and controlled over the last 20 minutes but couldn't finish anything off. The Blackbirds, a 5 seed that won a legitimate road game and a neutral site game against the #1 team in the state, Schalmont, to get here, picked it up to start the 2nd half. They evened play, and a lot of it was physicality. CCHS normally gets into opponents' heads with their physicality, but the reverse was happening for a little while on this day. For the majority of the contest, Blackbird defenders were able to neutralize Alexis Riffelbach and Madison Purcell. Easier said than done.
For the first 30 minutes of the 2nd half, Voorheesville's chances were better too. Shot just wide left. Shot juuust wide right. Shot off the post. Shot that made it past GK Dominique Stavis on goal but was deflected away by a defender. The chances were there. They weren't able to capitalize. Along with that, they forgot about one thing for a minute; hey, mark Lauren Drake too. Drizzy sometimes isn't in the limelight because of Riffelbach and Purcell, but she's every bit of a stud, too. 7 goals in 3 sectional games before this one, including back-to-back hat tricks - make that 8 goals in sectionals and 22 for the season when the Voorheesville D lapsed for a minute. Lauren got a couple steps of separation and snuck one underneath the top post from a little outside the 18 with 6:17 remaining. From that point on, it was about holding on for dear life because you knew the Voorheesville last chance onslaught was coming. A couple dangerous balls were cleared away, and it looked like the Crusaders would hold on.
Oh, how were we so naive? In the waning seconds, the ball was cleared to Lydia Parker over 40 yards away from goal. She booted one towards the goal, and Stavis approached it as if it would take a grass field bounce - either that, or she wasn't sure if she should charge at it and get it in the air or just hang out and let it bounce to her. Whatever it may be, it took a high bounce on the new turf field and got over her hands straight into the netting, knotting it up at 1 with 20 seconds remaining in regulation. The borderline miraculous goal by a girl with just 2 goals & 2 assists on the season beforehand gave Voorheesville new life. That new life lasted into the first OT...
Let's talk about Dom Stavis for a minute. She let that goal go through on a ball everyone knew she wished she could have. It takes mental toughness to recover from that and handle business as quickly as she was called upon, and most people - especially high schoolers - will shut down from that. She didn't. Voorheesville put two shots on goal 3 minutes into the first extra time session - one that was another tricky bounce that she needed to lay out for, and a second shot that was right to her, but low and hard. She handled both without a problem. Those saves ended the Blackbird push, and CCHS was able to build a little bit of pressure late in the 1st session. Things always tend to work themselves out in the long run. Early in the 2nd session, the aforementioned Madison Purcell - 25 goal scorer who is a LeMoyne commit for basketball - knocked a free kick inside the box from 35 yards out. Voorheesville GK Jordan Pettograsso slid down to catch it, but the ball bounced off her chest and out of reach. As she was trying to dive forward for it, a defender and Alexis Riffelbach were going for it as well. From my angle, it looked like the defender was who hit it, but I had the bad one, as it was Lexi Riff. Regardless of who hit it, the ball hit the back of the net and Riffelbach got with her 39th goal of the season - and I'm going to assume the one she likes the most - with 9:00 to play in the 2nd session. Voorheesville tried to throw the kitchen sink at Catholic Central late, eventually letting a couple more shots loose, but the Crusaders were able to ward it off and boot the ball away from danger every time. It took 100 minutes, but when all was said and done, CCHS was able to call themselves sectional champs in girls soccer for the first time in its history.
The Rest
I've probably watched CCHS girls soccer more this year than any other team in any sport. Giving a quick look through my game log, I think this marked the 7th time. They've had the offensive firepower from the start, but two things have pushed them over the top since the beginning of the year: defensive improvements and the emergence of Lauren Drake. At the beginning of the season, they appeared to be a team that could outscore nearly anyone with their skill and speed up top, but I was far less confident if the game was a 1-0 or 2-1 game. They buckled down defensively. It wasn't always pretty, but the job got done. In each of their last 2 games, a CCHS player knocked away a sure goal right by the line after it got past the keeper. It was one thing against Hoosick Falls, a 6-2 final. Imagine this game if a CCHS defender hadn't knocked a 2nd half shot away from the goal line? We'd probably be talking about Voorheesville winning. The emergence of Heartbreak Drake can't be understated - at least heartbreak for the teams that underrated her. At the beginning of the season, it was Riffelbach, Purcell... and oh yeah that #3 girl is decent too. Now, it's Riffelbach, Purcell, and Drake. No question that the dynamic duo up front is now a big 3. In 16 regular season games, she registered 13 goals & 7 assists. Not bad. In the 4 sectional games, she added on 8 goals & 4 assists to that total, including hat tricks in the quarterfinal and semifinal games. Teams didn't show her as much attention in their gameplan as the other two, and she responded in the best way possible for her team... CCHS has scored 95 goals on the season. 85 of them have come from Riffelbach (39), Purcell (25), and Drake (21)... 2 goals scored for them matched their lowest output of the season. They beat Troy 2-1 twice... The 1st time sectional champs now play Westhill of Section 3 in always cold & windy Fulton on Tuesday. The Warriors are no stranger to success, but it's their first time coming out of Section 3 in 6 years. Their only loss is to 6 time defending Section 3 Class A champ Jamesville-Dewitt. 6 players have scored 5+ goals for them, led by sophomore Jayanna Monds (18). They've given up just 16 goals on the season (5 to J-D) and 1 in sectionals... I told you I'm initially a Section 3 guy. Of course I know this stuff... Good luck to both teams. I'm close with some people in the Westhill district, and the CCHS crew has been nice enough to me!
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
The Magic Conch - Section 3, October 29
Okay, quick rundown. Ready, go.
Girls Soccer
Clinton vs. Westhill (at Chittenango) - Two traditional powers that always seem to end up around here. Both teams have been ranked highly all year, and you always expect a good one. That being said, Westhill is tough, they do not let you score, and they score enough to feel comfortable. I think Jayanna Monds, Kelly Lippert and Co. will move on to meet Lowville in the final, 3-1.
Beaver River vs. Bishop Grimes (at Fulton) - Bishop Grimes has been the #1 team in the state in Class C alllll year long. The Beavers - or the Orange Crush - are no strangers to getting deep into sectionals, but they're running into a buzzsaw. Grimes has been motivated all year after last year's heartbreak, they also don't let anyone score, and Kennedy Yearby is an animal. I'll say 3-1 in this too, Cobras.
Sackets Harbor vs. Poland (at Lowville) - Sackets is the Cinderella of the tournament this year, knocking off #5 Oriskany and #4 Morrisville-Eaton to get to the semis. With all due respect to Oriskany and an injury-depleted Morrisville team, they're not Poland. I continue to underrate the Frontier, but there is no beating the Tornadoes unless the Patriots play a very physical brand of soccer and get Poland out of their comfort zone. I think Poland advances, 4-0.
Remsen vs. Copenhagen (at Lowville) - Remsen is getting hot at the right time. The 6 seed certainly had talent beyond their seeding, but things hadn't fully panned out for them. Senior and long-time varsity stud Joleen Marfone hadn't been producing nearly as much offensively this year.. ya know, until sectionals. She had 13 goals & 9 assists in the regular season, and has put through 7 goals & 3 assists in two sectional matches. If Marfone keeps up the high rate we know she can perform at, and Elisha Hamilton, Hailey Murray and others keep up their pace, Remsen and their youth (5 seniors, with leading scorer Hamilton being a sophomore and GK Woolheater a freshman) can pull it off. Copenhagen has a great talent in Claire Stackel, and Emma Roberts & Maci Spaulding compliment her very well. By the way, they're all back next year. 2 are juniors, Spaulding's a sophomore. If they score early, they'll win. However, I'm picking against the Frontier again as I think Remsen's just a team that no one wants to bump up against right now. 2-1 final for the Ewes.
Boys Soccer
Jamesville-Dewitt vs. Indian River (at Watertown) - For some reason, there's been a lot of crap-talking on social media about this one. Same with the ESM game before. The larger Frontier schools have shown they're not quite as strong as the OHSL this year, but I think Indian River is an exception. The top seed will move on in what's nearly a home game for them, 3-2.
General Brown vs. Cazenovia (at Fulton) - Caz has shown dominance in Class B this year, and I think that continues tonight. Their quickness up top mixed with strength is too much for General Brown to overcome. Although it's been a nice season for GB, giving the crowd another option besides football, it ends tonight. 3-1 Lakers.
Clinton vs. Skaneateles (at Chittenango) - Can't get much better of a semifinal matchup. It's an evenly matched game, but I think Gavin Gleasman and company have been this far too many times without closing the deal. It changes tonight. There won't be 2 Lakers moving on, as Clinton eeks out a 2-1 victory.
Fabius-Pompey vs. Manlius Pebble Hill (at Chittenango) - These two start off the tripleheader at Chittenango tonight. They split the season series with Fabius-Pompey winning more convincingly in their game, buuut throw all that out the window now that we're at the sectional semis. Gerrit Church has been on a roll lately, and I'll take his MPH squad to hold off Fabius-Pompey just enough on defense in a 2-1 W.. maybe OT needed.
Hamilton vs. Watertown IHC (at Liverpool) - Hamilton's another team hot at the right time... and they drew a pretty favorable schedule. They beat Westmoreland and top-seeded Sauquoit - both league opponents, and Hamilton had already just beaten Sauquoit - to get here. IHC is always tough in sectionals because of playing against As and Bs all year and dropping to lower classes in the postseason. Hamilton's not afraid of the moment, but I'll roll with the Cavaliers 2-0.
Alexandria Bay vs. Sackets Harbor (at Lowville) - Who had a 14/7 semifinal in their bracket this year? Props to you, dawg. Truthfully speaking, I think the only thing that could stop the Purple Ghosts' magical run through this postseason is another Frontier squad that knows them. After Alexandria Bay knocked off 3rd seeded Bishop Ludden and 6 seed Old Forge, I think it comes to an end at the hands of a Sackets Harbor squad that pulled an upset of 2nd seeded Owen D. Young to get here. Sackets went 2 for 2 in the regular season, and I'm voting for them to go 3 for 3 in a 4-2 win.
Girls Soccer
Clinton vs. Westhill (at Chittenango) - Two traditional powers that always seem to end up around here. Both teams have been ranked highly all year, and you always expect a good one. That being said, Westhill is tough, they do not let you score, and they score enough to feel comfortable. I think Jayanna Monds, Kelly Lippert and Co. will move on to meet Lowville in the final, 3-1.
Beaver River vs. Bishop Grimes (at Fulton) - Bishop Grimes has been the #1 team in the state in Class C alllll year long. The Beavers - or the Orange Crush - are no strangers to getting deep into sectionals, but they're running into a buzzsaw. Grimes has been motivated all year after last year's heartbreak, they also don't let anyone score, and Kennedy Yearby is an animal. I'll say 3-1 in this too, Cobras.
Sackets Harbor vs. Poland (at Lowville) - Sackets is the Cinderella of the tournament this year, knocking off #5 Oriskany and #4 Morrisville-Eaton to get to the semis. With all due respect to Oriskany and an injury-depleted Morrisville team, they're not Poland. I continue to underrate the Frontier, but there is no beating the Tornadoes unless the Patriots play a very physical brand of soccer and get Poland out of their comfort zone. I think Poland advances, 4-0.
Remsen vs. Copenhagen (at Lowville) - Remsen is getting hot at the right time. The 6 seed certainly had talent beyond their seeding, but things hadn't fully panned out for them. Senior and long-time varsity stud Joleen Marfone hadn't been producing nearly as much offensively this year.. ya know, until sectionals. She had 13 goals & 9 assists in the regular season, and has put through 7 goals & 3 assists in two sectional matches. If Marfone keeps up the high rate we know she can perform at, and Elisha Hamilton, Hailey Murray and others keep up their pace, Remsen and their youth (5 seniors, with leading scorer Hamilton being a sophomore and GK Woolheater a freshman) can pull it off. Copenhagen has a great talent in Claire Stackel, and Emma Roberts & Maci Spaulding compliment her very well. By the way, they're all back next year. 2 are juniors, Spaulding's a sophomore. If they score early, they'll win. However, I'm picking against the Frontier again as I think Remsen's just a team that no one wants to bump up against right now. 2-1 final for the Ewes.
Boys Soccer
Jamesville-Dewitt vs. Indian River (at Watertown) - For some reason, there's been a lot of crap-talking on social media about this one. Same with the ESM game before. The larger Frontier schools have shown they're not quite as strong as the OHSL this year, but I think Indian River is an exception. The top seed will move on in what's nearly a home game for them, 3-2.
General Brown vs. Cazenovia (at Fulton) - Caz has shown dominance in Class B this year, and I think that continues tonight. Their quickness up top mixed with strength is too much for General Brown to overcome. Although it's been a nice season for GB, giving the crowd another option besides football, it ends tonight. 3-1 Lakers.
Clinton vs. Skaneateles (at Chittenango) - Can't get much better of a semifinal matchup. It's an evenly matched game, but I think Gavin Gleasman and company have been this far too many times without closing the deal. It changes tonight. There won't be 2 Lakers moving on, as Clinton eeks out a 2-1 victory.
Fabius-Pompey vs. Manlius Pebble Hill (at Chittenango) - These two start off the tripleheader at Chittenango tonight. They split the season series with Fabius-Pompey winning more convincingly in their game, buuut throw all that out the window now that we're at the sectional semis. Gerrit Church has been on a roll lately, and I'll take his MPH squad to hold off Fabius-Pompey just enough on defense in a 2-1 W.. maybe OT needed.
Hamilton vs. Watertown IHC (at Liverpool) - Hamilton's another team hot at the right time... and they drew a pretty favorable schedule. They beat Westmoreland and top-seeded Sauquoit - both league opponents, and Hamilton had already just beaten Sauquoit - to get here. IHC is always tough in sectionals because of playing against As and Bs all year and dropping to lower classes in the postseason. Hamilton's not afraid of the moment, but I'll roll with the Cavaliers 2-0.
Alexandria Bay vs. Sackets Harbor (at Lowville) - Who had a 14/7 semifinal in their bracket this year? Props to you, dawg. Truthfully speaking, I think the only thing that could stop the Purple Ghosts' magical run through this postseason is another Frontier squad that knows them. After Alexandria Bay knocked off 3rd seeded Bishop Ludden and 6 seed Old Forge, I think it comes to an end at the hands of a Sackets Harbor squad that pulled an upset of 2nd seeded Owen D. Young to get here. Sackets went 2 for 2 in the regular season, and I'm voting for them to go 3 for 3 in a 4-2 win.
I Smell A Skunk
It appears that the Whitehall BOE is living up to their moniker, railroading head varsity football coach Justin Culligan out of the position. Just a ho-hum day of power hungry individuals holding onto old-time glory. A story like this shakes me to the core. I get the feels over it. Why? Well... I've been through it.
I'll give you the background. I coached basketball for a year - girls basketball, modified girls basketball - at a Class C school. If you know me, you know what school. I'm young, but an old-fashioned type of guy whose two favorite things in life are basketball and winning. I can be difficult - but they're 7th & 8th graders, so I toned it back quite a bit. There were issues right off the bat. Some parents enjoyed having me as the new hire. Others didn't like it because I was so young (21, after an ankle injury that put me out 11 months kind of ended my college hoops days). Others did like that I was young because they thought they'd be able to influence my decisions - I don't play that game, though. We had A & B level teams instead of 7th & 8th grade. I could have an 8th grader on the Bs (which I did), I could have a 7th grader on the As (I had 3). One 7th grader missed the first day of practice because they didn't hand in their paperwork to our athletic director. I didn't pull her up right away simply because I hadn't seen enough of her yet to be confident in that decision. Of course, one of her parents called the school. This person is well-connected with the school's BOE, along with being the vice principal of a much larger school district in the area. Asked for a meeting with me, got his meeting. I stated why she wasn't moved up right away (guess what? I was moving her up anyway) but he still felt the need to go off about it. Talked about lack of communication - ask the people who played in the King of Kings College Prospect Division this summer. I'm such a good communicator, it's friggin' annoying. Just wanted to let his presence be felt. Oh well. The season goes on, and we're good. I mean, we're a Class C school whose only loss is to a Class A, while beating two Class Bs, another Class A, and a Class AA in the process. Kids were having fun, getting better noticeably, responding well - not much to complain about, or so I thought. A particular game happens that a (larger) school almost comes back to beat us - my squad won by 1. This is modified girls basketball, remember. The other coach and I had an agreement that we wouldn't play our starters in the 2nd & 4th quarters because she had so many kids on her team to filter in. Well, someone directs me to the wonderful website Topix the next day, where people feel their opinion matters. I'm getting blasted. Oh, this guy doesn't know what he's doing. Oh, he's just like the varsity coach who sucks. Oh, he doesn't play my kid enough. Oh, he gives everyone equal playing time. People, shut the hell up. (Enter town name here) - where you'll find a 25 comment post about a girls modified basketball coach and playing time.
The team had an interesting dynamic. Half of the players on this A team - my best players - either came from old-fashioned homes, where if the kid comes home complaining about practice being hard, the parent says 'you probably deserved it', or they came from broken homes. The other half was a VP's kid, the basketball booster club president's kid, the school superintendent secretary's kid, the kid of a neighboring district's superintendent... you get my drift. Tensions were rising. The pampered crew didn't get their own way, and it was killing them. A game we had late in the season got chippy. I almost picked up a technical foul due to the reckless abandon the game was being played with. Gotta defend the kids, right? Well, late in the game there was a hard foul and one of my players on the bench (one of the more fortunate ones) yelled 'punch her in the face!'. I quickly turned around, told her to sit down, pulled her aside and said we don't condone that type of stuff. She's an 8th grader, of course she cried a little bit. Ohhh boy. It was a lynch mob after the game was over. I had 5 parents walk over... all the privileged ones, and of course two were related (yeeeehaw!). All of them started yelling. One gave me a little shove. I would've knocked his ass out if we weren't somewhere with kids around. I refrained. I very quickly stated my case, but for the most part, I let them run their mouths to build mine. I was calling the athletic director right after. The AD was on my side all the way - he said he'd handle it.
Unfortunately, this well-connected group of parents went to board members. There was a board member who apparently walked into school the next morning saying that he wouldn't leave until I was fired. I don't know what happened, but this much I know: the superintendent of the neighboring district (who was not at the game) went to lunch with the school's interim superintendent that day. When the interim came back, I was immediately put on administrative leave. Smell fishy to you? Yeah. At this school, whenever someone gets put on leave, there automatically has to be a case put together and presented to the 'review board'. The AD puts the case together. Thank God the AD is like me - not part of the clique. He did a wonderful job, interviewing unbiased people who were at the game and have been around at different parts of the season. Officials, opposing coaches and athletic directors. I had parents - the good parents - calling me and saying they'd back me up in whatever way possible. Thank God for them. The others? Well, they never had the balls to say something to my face again. I have to them, and I would again. The AD interviewed 16 people, with not a bad word said, according to him. When the case was presented in its entirety, they had no choice but to reinstate me. It was proven I had done nothing wrong. A board member was on the record saying that me being put on leave was 'bullshit' and 'there were things that were withheld' from them at the start.
That was great, I beat the case. It marred our otherwise phenomenal season, where the B team improved drastically from beginning to end and the A team had more success than they've ever had. It marred their outlook on basketball season when their last game had to be cancelled. It put a bad taste in my mouth for my first actual coaching experience. Weeks after I was reinstated, I was offered the JV coaching job. I politely turned it down. I want nothing to do with that district anymore. I don't care about coaching there after they tried to run me out as a method of laughing in their face. This past year, I was offered the varsity job. I turned it down. I even was offered an assistant coaching job at the local college for men's and women's basketball. Yeah, your modified coach that you tried to can could've been a college assistant within a year & a half of the incident. I may have taken that if I stayed in the area, but I moved, so I turned it down. I'm cool with not coaching - I'm too young to deal with the headaches of parents and the board of education politics. I just run the leagues that the best high school players in upstate New York play in as a 23 year old.
So, that brings me back around to Whitehall. I think we all know the situation. Coach Justin Culligan was initially not brought back for his coaching position this year because there was a movement to bring the old (really old) coach back around for Whitehall's 100th season. Nostalgia? Second coming of the big man Jesus Christ himself? Did he coach Whitehall in its 1st season as a football program? Who knows. After a community uproar, the decision was reversed and he was back. They really didn't want him back though, as this showed. Two days after a fight and consistent overly angry play forced officials to call a game between Whitehall & Rensselaer a couple weeks back, the board unanimously voted to can Culligan, the head coach. Mind you, the assistant coach was accused of tackling & choking a kid on the opposing team, but he's fine. Due process. The head coach who had the three Cs down pat compared to the others? Oh he's the three Cs alright; canned, canned, & canned. After even stronger community upheaval, a board meeting where they already had their minds made up to hold their decision regardless of what anyone said, and a week of beating around the proverbial bush, they came out with a 'reason' today. I quote reason because it's more of an excuse. They say they canned him over swearing. Cursing. Use of profane language. Ya know, something that every varsity football coach does? Every varsity coach, basically? Every football coach? I've heard Pop Warner coaches curse at kids.
I don't condone that. I'm just saying.
First off, if that's the actual absurd reason, then why not say it right off the bat? Second, do you realize that none of us are buying your sack of crap? I think the only people that believe the Whitehall BOE & superintendent's released excuse are the washed brains of the Whitehall BOE & superintendent. Remember, I've been through this before. I can smell a skunk, and there's some stinky shit going on here.
Even Mr. Krabs smells it. We can all tell you it's the sweet smell of bullshit. I'm sure the Whitehall Board of Education will never read this, and there may never be someone from Whitehall that does (although I hope they do). I've never made it up there for a game, I've never watched them play. Hell, I've never been there at all. Like I said, there's a certain agenda that the powers that be in Whitehall want to follow, and a football season - the 100th football season, and as I'm well-aware, some senior years that people from small schools treasure so dearly throughout life - that are marred because of it. Not to mention that a coach, apparently a good one considering the program's success now, is out of a coaching job. But apparently this doesn't go on his permanent file. Why? They say it's not bad enough. Well, no shit. Of course it isn't. He didn't do anything. The real reason is because they hope there will be no evidence of the putridity of all this down the road. They don't want to be remembered for the idiocy of all this. So how about we just don't put anything on paper and try to sweep it under the rug?
Long story short, this is one big case of a few things:
1.) How not to handle a situation if you're a school adminstrator
2.) Why many people, young and old alike, now hesitate to get into coaching in the amateur ranks
3.) People are smarter than administrators in general like to think - they can read through BS
4.) How about the boom of social media? This is a tiny town, and all of NYS and western VT know about this.
Last but not least, this is just the latest in an alarmingly growing amount of cases where a coach pisses off the wrong person in one way or another, and they lose their job over it. It happened in my area with Coach Casale at Mt. Markham, Byron Abraham at Notre Dame, me kinda... It's happened other places. Coach Bennett at C-NS, one of the winningest softball coaches you'll find. Coach Al Knapp, one of the most decorated basketball coaches in NYS history, got out of it because of parents and the influence they can have. Well, Florida was a nice reason too. Add Justin Culligan to the list. And like always, everything the Whitehall Board of Education and superintendent presented over the last 10 days was a crock of shit. I swore a few times in this... are you firing me first or can I just walk out?
I'll give you the background. I coached basketball for a year - girls basketball, modified girls basketball - at a Class C school. If you know me, you know what school. I'm young, but an old-fashioned type of guy whose two favorite things in life are basketball and winning. I can be difficult - but they're 7th & 8th graders, so I toned it back quite a bit. There were issues right off the bat. Some parents enjoyed having me as the new hire. Others didn't like it because I was so young (21, after an ankle injury that put me out 11 months kind of ended my college hoops days). Others did like that I was young because they thought they'd be able to influence my decisions - I don't play that game, though. We had A & B level teams instead of 7th & 8th grade. I could have an 8th grader on the Bs (which I did), I could have a 7th grader on the As (I had 3). One 7th grader missed the first day of practice because they didn't hand in their paperwork to our athletic director. I didn't pull her up right away simply because I hadn't seen enough of her yet to be confident in that decision. Of course, one of her parents called the school. This person is well-connected with the school's BOE, along with being the vice principal of a much larger school district in the area. Asked for a meeting with me, got his meeting. I stated why she wasn't moved up right away (guess what? I was moving her up anyway) but he still felt the need to go off about it. Talked about lack of communication - ask the people who played in the King of Kings College Prospect Division this summer. I'm such a good communicator, it's friggin' annoying. Just wanted to let his presence be felt. Oh well. The season goes on, and we're good. I mean, we're a Class C school whose only loss is to a Class A, while beating two Class Bs, another Class A, and a Class AA in the process. Kids were having fun, getting better noticeably, responding well - not much to complain about, or so I thought. A particular game happens that a (larger) school almost comes back to beat us - my squad won by 1. This is modified girls basketball, remember. The other coach and I had an agreement that we wouldn't play our starters in the 2nd & 4th quarters because she had so many kids on her team to filter in. Well, someone directs me to the wonderful website Topix the next day, where people feel their opinion matters. I'm getting blasted. Oh, this guy doesn't know what he's doing. Oh, he's just like the varsity coach who sucks. Oh, he doesn't play my kid enough. Oh, he gives everyone equal playing time. People, shut the hell up. (Enter town name here) - where you'll find a 25 comment post about a girls modified basketball coach and playing time.
The team had an interesting dynamic. Half of the players on this A team - my best players - either came from old-fashioned homes, where if the kid comes home complaining about practice being hard, the parent says 'you probably deserved it', or they came from broken homes. The other half was a VP's kid, the basketball booster club president's kid, the school superintendent secretary's kid, the kid of a neighboring district's superintendent... you get my drift. Tensions were rising. The pampered crew didn't get their own way, and it was killing them. A game we had late in the season got chippy. I almost picked up a technical foul due to the reckless abandon the game was being played with. Gotta defend the kids, right? Well, late in the game there was a hard foul and one of my players on the bench (one of the more fortunate ones) yelled 'punch her in the face!'. I quickly turned around, told her to sit down, pulled her aside and said we don't condone that type of stuff. She's an 8th grader, of course she cried a little bit. Ohhh boy. It was a lynch mob after the game was over. I had 5 parents walk over... all the privileged ones, and of course two were related (yeeeehaw!). All of them started yelling. One gave me a little shove. I would've knocked his ass out if we weren't somewhere with kids around. I refrained. I very quickly stated my case, but for the most part, I let them run their mouths to build mine. I was calling the athletic director right after. The AD was on my side all the way - he said he'd handle it.
Unfortunately, this well-connected group of parents went to board members. There was a board member who apparently walked into school the next morning saying that he wouldn't leave until I was fired. I don't know what happened, but this much I know: the superintendent of the neighboring district (who was not at the game) went to lunch with the school's interim superintendent that day. When the interim came back, I was immediately put on administrative leave. Smell fishy to you? Yeah. At this school, whenever someone gets put on leave, there automatically has to be a case put together and presented to the 'review board'. The AD puts the case together. Thank God the AD is like me - not part of the clique. He did a wonderful job, interviewing unbiased people who were at the game and have been around at different parts of the season. Officials, opposing coaches and athletic directors. I had parents - the good parents - calling me and saying they'd back me up in whatever way possible. Thank God for them. The others? Well, they never had the balls to say something to my face again. I have to them, and I would again. The AD interviewed 16 people, with not a bad word said, according to him. When the case was presented in its entirety, they had no choice but to reinstate me. It was proven I had done nothing wrong. A board member was on the record saying that me being put on leave was 'bullshit' and 'there were things that were withheld' from them at the start.
That was great, I beat the case. It marred our otherwise phenomenal season, where the B team improved drastically from beginning to end and the A team had more success than they've ever had. It marred their outlook on basketball season when their last game had to be cancelled. It put a bad taste in my mouth for my first actual coaching experience. Weeks after I was reinstated, I was offered the JV coaching job. I politely turned it down. I want nothing to do with that district anymore. I don't care about coaching there after they tried to run me out as a method of laughing in their face. This past year, I was offered the varsity job. I turned it down. I even was offered an assistant coaching job at the local college for men's and women's basketball. Yeah, your modified coach that you tried to can could've been a college assistant within a year & a half of the incident. I may have taken that if I stayed in the area, but I moved, so I turned it down. I'm cool with not coaching - I'm too young to deal with the headaches of parents and the board of education politics. I just run the leagues that the best high school players in upstate New York play in as a 23 year old.
So, that brings me back around to Whitehall. I think we all know the situation. Coach Justin Culligan was initially not brought back for his coaching position this year because there was a movement to bring the old (really old) coach back around for Whitehall's 100th season. Nostalgia? Second coming of the big man Jesus Christ himself? Did he coach Whitehall in its 1st season as a football program? Who knows. After a community uproar, the decision was reversed and he was back. They really didn't want him back though, as this showed. Two days after a fight and consistent overly angry play forced officials to call a game between Whitehall & Rensselaer a couple weeks back, the board unanimously voted to can Culligan, the head coach. Mind you, the assistant coach was accused of tackling & choking a kid on the opposing team, but he's fine. Due process. The head coach who had the three Cs down pat compared to the others? Oh he's the three Cs alright; canned, canned, & canned. After even stronger community upheaval, a board meeting where they already had their minds made up to hold their decision regardless of what anyone said, and a week of beating around the proverbial bush, they came out with a 'reason' today. I quote reason because it's more of an excuse. They say they canned him over swearing. Cursing. Use of profane language. Ya know, something that every varsity football coach does? Every varsity coach, basically? Every football coach? I've heard Pop Warner coaches curse at kids.
I don't condone that. I'm just saying.
First off, if that's the actual absurd reason, then why not say it right off the bat? Second, do you realize that none of us are buying your sack of crap? I think the only people that believe the Whitehall BOE & superintendent's released excuse are the washed brains of the Whitehall BOE & superintendent. Remember, I've been through this before. I can smell a skunk, and there's some stinky shit going on here.
Even Mr. Krabs smells it. We can all tell you it's the sweet smell of bullshit. I'm sure the Whitehall Board of Education will never read this, and there may never be someone from Whitehall that does (although I hope they do). I've never made it up there for a game, I've never watched them play. Hell, I've never been there at all. Like I said, there's a certain agenda that the powers that be in Whitehall want to follow, and a football season - the 100th football season, and as I'm well-aware, some senior years that people from small schools treasure so dearly throughout life - that are marred because of it. Not to mention that a coach, apparently a good one considering the program's success now, is out of a coaching job. But apparently this doesn't go on his permanent file. Why? They say it's not bad enough. Well, no shit. Of course it isn't. He didn't do anything. The real reason is because they hope there will be no evidence of the putridity of all this down the road. They don't want to be remembered for the idiocy of all this. So how about we just don't put anything on paper and try to sweep it under the rug?
Long story short, this is one big case of a few things:
1.) How not to handle a situation if you're a school adminstrator
2.) Why many people, young and old alike, now hesitate to get into coaching in the amateur ranks
3.) People are smarter than administrators in general like to think - they can read through BS
4.) How about the boom of social media? This is a tiny town, and all of NYS and western VT know about this.
Last but not least, this is just the latest in an alarmingly growing amount of cases where a coach pisses off the wrong person in one way or another, and they lose their job over it. It happened in my area with Coach Casale at Mt. Markham, Byron Abraham at Notre Dame, me kinda... It's happened other places. Coach Bennett at C-NS, one of the winningest softball coaches you'll find. Coach Al Knapp, one of the most decorated basketball coaches in NYS history, got out of it because of parents and the influence they can have. Well, Florida was a nice reason too. Add Justin Culligan to the list. And like always, everything the Whitehall Board of Education and superintendent presented over the last 10 days was a crock of shit. I swore a few times in this... are you firing me first or can I just walk out?
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