Bits & Pieces

By Kim J. Harmon

Ah, the joys of city basketball …

Last week, the Wilby High School freshman basketball team (on which, my son is a member) traveled to Ansonia and dropped 100 points – that’s right, 100 – on the Chargers. There were lots of fast breaks, pressure defense, and kids flying up and down the floor and if there was a single half-court play called, I don’t remember it.

Now, if there was any real defense played I don’t remember it, either (despite the eight or nine blocks I saw). See, although Wilby scored 100 points, Ansonia scored 106. The game was tied 91-91 at the end of regulation (remember, eight minute quarters just like everywhere else) when the Chargers out-scored the Wildcats 15-9 in a four-minute overtime session.

That’s 5.7 points per minute.

It was pretty wild, let me tell you.

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I would love to admonish Kevin Troy, but I can’t.

The Newtown High School boys’ basketball team was locked in a tight South-West Conference battle with Joel Barlow last Friday and in the second half, Troy – who scored 16 points in the 65-58 Newtown win – made a steal at half court to give himself an uncontested drive on the hoop.

Troy can dunk. I wanted to see a dunk. A lot of other people who knew Troy could dunk wanted to see a dunk.

He didn’t dunk.

He got darn close, but he basically tucked the ball into the basket and quickly went back on defense. In a game like that, it was the smart thing – the right thing – to do. But, darn it, a dunk would have been sweeeeet.

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Forget about solitaire. This is something better you can do to waste time at the office while your programs are compiling (yeah, right) or you’re waiting for a call back from a vendor.

Whatifsports.com has developed a program – SimMatchup – that will simulate any major league baseball, basketball (college or pro), hockey or pro football game between any two teams that ever stepped on the field of battle.

How about a football game between the 1944 Brooklyn Tigers and 1986 New York Giants (won by the Giants, 17-7, as Joe Morris rushes for 103 yards and a touchdown) or a baseball game between the 2006 Boston Red Sox and the 1891 Cincinnati club known as Kelley’s Killers (won by Killers, 4-3, as first baseman John Carney goes 2-for-4 with two RBI)?

How about an NBA game between the 2005-06 New York Knicks and the 1952-53 Syracuse Nationals (won by Syracuse, 106-102, as Dolph Shayes scores 31 points) or a hockey game between the 1993-94 Stanley Cup champion New York Rangers and the 1930-31 Stanley Cup champion Toronto Maple Leafs (won by the Leafs, 4-2, as right winger Charlie Conacher scores two goals and goalie Lorne Chabot stops 41 shots)?

Better yet, what would be more fun than simulating a game between one of the best and one of the worst teams of all time – the 2001 Seattle Mariners (116-46) and the 1899 Cleveland Spiders (20-134)? Can you imagine a game between two teams that would have been separated by 96 games in the standings? WhatIfSports.com can and tells us the Mariners win, 15-2, as Ichiro Suzuki goes 5-for-7 and Bret Boone goes 2-for-3 with two doubles and four RBI.

You can simulate all sorts of NCAA basketball games, too, though the range may be only 10 years or so (depending on what school you select).

Oh, boy, talk about fun.

Talk about wasting time.