Bits & Pieces

By Kim J. Harmon

Please.

It’s only a six-letter word and it can be said in so many different ways … like the sweetly innocent way a five-year-old will ask for the last chocolate chip cookie or the exasperated way a harried division manager will ask an underling to perform a task he or she should have completed hours before.

But there is something different about hearing that word come from a competitor … a basketball player, for instance, pleading for the athletic trainer to give her clearance to get back on the floor. It has a desperate quality to it that says basketball is more than a mere game, it is a part of her essence the same way writing was to science fiction author Isaac Asimov, who said, “I write, because if I didn’t I would die.”

That may be overstating it a little (let’s call it … dramatic effect), but not only is it impressive to watch someone like Christie Iwanicki play the game of basketball but it’s impressive – and inspiring – to see her fight so hard to get back on the floor after being waylaid like she was in the fourth quarter last Friday night against Joel Barlow.

In a little pileup on the defensive end of the floor, Iwanicki suffered a bit of a twisted ankle. After a few minutes – maybe four, no more than five – Iwanicki gingerly got back to her feet and softly limped off the court and the hopes of the Lady Nighthawks in a season that was not even two games old was hanging in the balance.

Now, the ‘Hawks have a strong starting five with Kristi Nowak, Morgan Knees, Katie Condon and Darcy Fiscella, but Iwanicki is an impact player like few others in the South-West Conference. Head coach Shawn O’Brien knows it and he said, “The Shinall twins are two of the best players in the league and there may be a tendency to overlook Christie. But she is every bit as good.”

Good … and determined. Trainer Tim Crowley checked out the ankle and then had her test it in the corner of the gym and out in the hall and almost literally had to keep her from running back out on the floor. She pleaded for him to give her the okay and, finally, convinced she was okay, he relented.

Newtown was tied with Joel Barlow 36-36 when Iwanicki left the floor. In the three minutes she was gone, the ‘Hawks went up as much as four points before the Falcons rallied to take a one-point lead. Iwanicki returned with 4:34 left to play, moments after Fiscella scored the basket that put the locals up for good.

The ‘Hawks out-scored the Falcons 14-7 the rest of the way.

Newtown High School has been blessed with a lot of young athletes – often great, but not always so – who gave every ounce of sweat they had in every game they ever played. My personal favorite was Melissa Eigen, the only basketball player who spent more time on the floor than in the air. But I remember many others in my 13 years here – like Allison Bernstein on the volleyball floor, Bob Pattison on the wrestling mat, and Casey Frobey on the soccer pitch – and while I am awed by the great athletes like everyone else, nothing impresses me more than effort and desire.

Effort.

Desire.

I believe those two things can make an average player good, a good player great and a great player – well …

1 1 1

While compiling the collegiate sports reports during the fall, I marveled at how many Newtown High School alumni were participating in major college sports … and how many had actually gone Division I. There were better than three dozen on that list and while some were on teams that won conference championships, one – Marcus Tracy – was on a Wake Forest soccer team that reached the NCAA Division I semi-finals.

I shouldn’t be as surprised as I am, though.

The youth sports programs in Newtown have been phenomenally successful in recent memory – two baseball teams achieved some national recognition by qualifying for the Cal Ripken World Series, cheerleading teams from the high school have (or will have) participated in three national competitions, and now a fourth-grade football team has brought home an American Youth Football national championship after defeating a makeshift Central Florida All-Star team in Lakeland, Florida. On top of that, a youth cheerleading team brought home a third-place trophy from the nationals in Florida.

It must be something in our water. Or pizza. Newtown has good pizza.

1 1 1

For those who need a “Latin Moment,” here is one – sportscasters have been talking about Terrell Owens ad nauseum ... which is a pretty good phrase, because all the talk is making me nauseous.