Bits & Pieces

By Kim J. Harmon

 

I have been to a lot of different fields and a lot of different fields in this state – from Coginchaug High in Durham to E.O. Smith High School in Storrs – and I am here to tell you that NO ONE does it better than Newtown.

I mean the facilities, the presentation, the support.

The atmosphere.

That may sound like hometown bias, but I don’t care.

Now, it used to be Newtown was just like any other run of the mill high school. But the fields have undergone a major upgrade and now NHS can boast, arguably, the best athletic facilities in the state of Connecticut and that makes a huge difference.

Then there are the peripherals – the cheerleaders and the Markettes performing at halftimes, the professional announcing on the public address system, the refreshments – that build the atmosphere.

And then there is the support. Most of us know who is largely responsible (Kyle Lyddy) for the enormous swelling of school spirit and now it has taken on a life of its own. The Newtown High School boys’ basketball team was stuck in an ugly non-conference game with Norwich Free Academy last Friday night, but the student section in the gym was dressed up, painted up, and energetic from the opening tip to the final horn.

People at other schools go to games.

People in Newtown go to events.

No one does it better.

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Before the start of the South-West Conference girls’ basketball quarterfinal game between Newtown and Pomperaug last Saturday at the Shehan Center in Bridgeport, fans were subjected to the worst rendition of The Star Spangled Banner that I have ever heard.

Now, I’m not saying that’s why the Lady Nighthawks lost to the Lady Panthers – but it couldn’t have helped.

Please, burn that tape.

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Speaking of the SWC quarterfinals, Lexi Allen of Pomperaug put on one of the finest displays of shooting I have seen since Samantha Halpern of Masuk scorched the hoop against Newtown about 10 years ago.

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If you have a desire to play baseball the way it was first envisioned, then come to a meeting of Newtown Vintage Base Ball on Friday, February 25, from 6 to 7:30 pm, in the Edmond Town Hall gym.

The meeting will be held for the purpose of talking about the pending 2005 season, to sign-up interested players and supporters, and to throw the ball around.

A local group of ballists is attempting to organize a team not only to play an exhibition game against the Hartford Senators in the Tercentennial Celebration, but to participate in summer season action.

Anyone interested in further information can contact Ray Shaw at rcshaw1@earthlink.net.

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National Hockey League players just don’t get it.

These players are so self-absorbed, so arrogant, that their league is hemorrhaging money and as many as six teams are in danger of folding and, yet, all they care about is getting theirs … like it’s owed to them.

And the latest grumblings from these poor, out-of-work millionaires is the venom spewed at players who have said, heck yes, they’d cross the picket line when (or if) the league re-started in October – the same players who are currently without jobs since the poor, out-of-work NHL millionaires stole those very same jobs by fleeing overseas or to the American Hockey League or United Hockey League.

I like hockey, but I don’t follow it religiously like so many do. Those who do – they are the ones we should be feeling sorry for.

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I don’t know about you, but I am real anxious for spring to start. This latest snowstorm has kind of got me depressed because I was shooting hoops all weekend with my son and looking forward to breaking out the wiffle ball and bat and getting another season of backyard baseball underway.

This stinks.

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Do you mind getting screamed at?

Do you mind being vilified?

Do you mind that every utterance you make is questioned by at least half the people around you?

If you answered no to those questions, then you could make a fine umpire. Umpiring clinics (complete training in two, three-hour sessions from 6 to 9 pm) are being held across the state next month:

wMarch 1 and 3 at Wesleyan University in Middletown.

wMarch 7 and 9 at Renbrook School in West Hartford.

wMarch 7 and 10 at the Sports Complex in New Milford.

wMarch 16 and 23 at the University of New Haven.

wMarch 29 and 31 at Greenwich Academy in Greenwich.

There is a $15 fee for coaches and $25 fee for umpires (which includes mentor kit). For further information, contact Susan Popovitch at popovitch@sbcglobal.net.