Old Acquaintances

By Kim J. Harmon

 

Despite the rain and the cold, it can never be a bad day when you have a chance to run into a guy like Brian Reiff.

Reiff – if you don’t know – is the former coach of the Newtown High School boys’ swim team. From the 1992-93 season through the 1999-2000 season, coach Reiff compiled a 79-29 record and led the Nighthawks as high as second place in the South-West Conference.

There were some great times, too. Like the wins over archrival Bunnell; that first win over Weston; the memorable overnight trips to Wappingers Falls in Newburgh, New York; and the big trip down to Florida.

Coach Reiff is now leading the Brookfield High School boys’ swim team (the defending SWC champion Brookfield swim team, which comes into town on January 27) but is also coaching the so-called Brookfield Middle School swim team (so-called because it receives no financial support from Brookfield; the team belongs to the team).

Brian’s son, Matt, is on the high school team (and has already qualified for the CIAC championships) while his daughter, Jaime, is on the middle school team.

And on Monday, the North End Middle School swim team in Waterbury (which my daughter, Melissa, and son, Ben, compete on) hosted Brookfield Middle School and that’s where I had a chance to run into my friend Brian Reiff.

I don’t remember, now, if he had his traditional work boots on but he did have his usual enthusiasm and it positively shined. After the meet was over and BMS had thoroughly swamped NEMS, Reiff had his rah-rah meeting with the swimmers and elected captains and everyone seemed so … jazzed up.

I have a feeling that Brookfield High School winning it all last year was no fluke. Seeing some of those middle school swimmers, I have a feeling that Brookfield is at the beginning of something remarkable – maybe even the kind of dominance that Pomperaug has enjoyed lo these many years.

That might be bad news for Newtown, but it’s great news for a friend like Brian Reiff.

“The country is full of good coaches. What it takes to win is a bunch of interested players.”

– Don Coryell, ex-San Diego Chargers coach

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I have seen several kids wearing the new Denver Nuggets jersey – you know, the one with number 15 emblazoned on the back. Carmelo Anthony has put the Nuggets on the map and these kids – who probably never even knew Denver had a team – are already in his corner.

In the same regard, I know LeBron James has made that kind of difference with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but I have yet to see anyone where a LeBron James jersey. Odd, too, because the new Cleveland jersey is kind of cool while the new Denver jersey (the soft blue with the yellow trim) is kind of icky.

“The invention of basketball was not an accident. It was developed to meet a need. Those boys simply would not play Drop The Handkerchief.”

– Dr. James Naismith