Bits & Pieces

By Kim J. Harmon

When Gregg Simon first told me a few weeks ago that he was stepping down, I wasn’t as flabbergasted as I would have thought.

Coach Simon has always been a family guy. During the fall and spring, coach Simon and one, two or all three of his daughters might be seen on the sidelines of a soccer or lacrosse game and during the winter, his wife and kids might be seen in the stands cheering on the Lady Nighthawks.

The situation had to change and most fathers - especially those with kids 11 and under - would have to agree.

Coach Simon leaves behind a program that has become one of the elite programs not only in the South-West Conference, but in the state. Over the past 11 years (the first few with Tom Kuroski on the sidelines with him), coach Simon has amassed 185 wins and one SWC championship.

And he is leaving a team that is returning EVERYONE. Next year, not only will the Lady Nighthawks be challenging for another SWC title, but guard Kelley Haines will be reaching for the 1,000-point plateau and the all-time school scoring record.

Newtown High School is worse for losing a coach of Gregg Simon’s caliber. But like he said to me a few weeks ago, this isn’t the end. Just an intermission.

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What makes the NCAA Tournament so great every year is games like Arizona-Gonzaga (double overtime) and Wisconsin-Tulsa (a 10-point rally in the final two minutes) and teams like No. 12 Butler (who?) reaching the Sweet Sixteen.

Of course, with games like Arizona-Gonzaga and Wisconsin-Tulsa going the way they did and teams like No. 12 Butler making it as far as they did, there are guys (like me – unfortunately) who are bidding an early end to their NCAA pool hopes.

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Isn’t it great how the NCAA Tournament turns all kinds of people into basketball fans? My kids and I were watching the Arizona-Gonzaga game and none of us knows anything about either school, but we were living and dying on each shot and when Gonzaga missed that banker in double overtime all three of us – all with Gonzaga advancing to the Sweet Sixteen – screamed in agony.

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The NBA’s idea to put in a minimum-age rule (20) for entry into the league is a great one. But wait until LeBron James gets his money (well, some of his money – his NBA salary will be chump change compared to the sneaker money).

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I went to the new Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last week (see the story starting on this page) and I have to say, I loved it. The timeline up on the Honors Ring (third floor) is terrific.

I want to take my kids up there, but I know that after spending $60 dollars or so to get in the door all my sons are going to want to do (other than eat at the convenient McDonalds located in the building) is shoot baskets in the gym and to heck with reading about Forrest “Phog” Allen or Clair Bee.

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For fans of local professional sports, there will be lots of things to do this spring and summer.

There are four baseball teams in Connecticut – the independent Bridgeport Bluefish and the Class AA Eastern League Norwich Navigators, New Haven Ravens and New Britain Rock Cats.

There is a professional lacrosse team – the Bridgeport Barrage.

There is a professional basketball team – the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA.

And there are two professional football teams – the Mohegan Wolves of Arena2 (that’s indoor) and the Connecticut Crush of the National Women’s Football Association. There was a third pro football team, the Arena2 New Haven Ninjas, but they disbanded this past winter when they were left without a home field.

Oh yeah, lots of stuff to do.

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This has nothing to do with sports, but I can’t hold it in – for God’s sake, if traffic is moving along on Main Street DON’T stop in the middle of the road just to let someone turn left. And if you’re on the highway and I’m already busting the speed limit by five or 10 miles an hour, DON’T come up behind me and flash your high beams because I ain’t moving over.

Sorry – I had to get that off my chest.