Bits & Pieces

By Kim J. Harmon

I’m marking this date on my calendar with a huge red ‘X’ – Wednesday, March 5, 2003. The most dismal day of the year.

The freezing rain caused treacherous conditions in the morning and turned my usual 20-minute ride to work into a two-hour ordeal.

A few hours later, I drove about 80 minutes – through the rain and dense fog – to the Connecticut Skating Center in Newington, where the Newtown High School hockey team was beaten by Greenwich, 5-1, in the opening round of the CIAC Division II state tournament.

After that, I drove about 80 minutes back to Newtown – through spots of much thicker fog – to watch the Newtown High School girls’ basketball team lose to Bulkeley in a CIAC Class LL second-round game.

Then there was an accident on I-84 that slowed by ride home.

Dismal.

Dismal, dismal, dismal.

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Of course, the following day was that nasty snowstorm that caused a 25-car pileup on I-84 West. That nearly shut down the eastbound lane, turning my 20-minute drive into another two-hour ordeal.

It was a pretty bad week, all right.

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Ready to strap the feedbag on?

The Newtown High School Blue & Gold Booster Club will benefit from just about anyone who eats at My Place Pizza on Queen Street on Tuesday, March 25 (after 5 pm). Eat in or take out, it doesn’t matter.

When you order your food, indicate that you wish to benefit the Blue & Gold Booster Club. My Place will donate 20% of all purchases made that day to the B&G to help NHS athletic department purchase the team benches, dugouts, and spectators stands that are needed to complete the newly-refurbished fields behind the high school.

Go out and eat . . . and don’t forget to bring your appetite.

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There is one thing you can usually count on at a Newtown High School athletic contest – that is, a pretty good rendition of the national anthem.

One of those that belted out “O say can you see . . .” might want to head down to Bridgeport in a couple of weeks for the National Anthem tryouts being sponsored by the Bridgeport Bluefish.

The Bluefish – a Class A independent baseball team – will hold auditions on Saturday, April 5, from 11 am to 4 pm at The Klein in Bridgeport (directions can be found at www.theklein.org).

Make sure you register in advance by calling the Bluefish promotions office at 1-203-345-4800, ext. 104.

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Hey, the Bridgeport Bluefish are not only looking for singers. They are looking for players, too.

The Bluefish will hold their annual open tryouts on Sunday, April 6, starting at 10 am, at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard. Players should pre-register, as there may be a limit to the number of players allowed to tryout.

Players should be at least 18 and not presently on a collegiate roster or under contract to another professional team. There is a registration fee of $50 (which gets the player a special edition numbered t-shirt).

Visit the Bluefish on the web at www.bridgeportbluefish.com for further information.

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If you want to get ready for baseball by gorging yourself on stats – and you don’t have a Baseball Encyclodia handy – visit www.baseball-reference.com on the Internet. This is the most comprehensive statistical web site I have ever seen, with dozens of searchable categories.

Check it out. It’s free.