The 2010 Schedule

Well folks, here we go! Time for a new season of NVL football on WATR-AM 1320.

Here's what's ahead:

WATR 2010 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
16-Sep	Thurs6:30pm		Ansonia @ Woodland
24-Sep	Friday	7PM	St.Paul @ Holy Cross
1-Oct	Friday	7PM	Woodland @ Wolcott
2-Oct	Sat.	1:30PM	Kennedy @ Wilby
8-Oct	Friday	7PM	Watertown @ Woodland
15-Oct	Friday	7PM	Wolcott @ Ansonia
21-Oct	Thurs.	6PM	Crosby @ Holy Cross
22-Oct	Friday	7PM	Naugatuck @ Sacred Heart
29-Oct	Friday	7PM	Sacred Heart @ Holy Cross
5-Nov	Friday	7PM	Woodland @ Naugatuck
12-Nov	Friday	7PM	Holy Cross @ Naugatuck
24-Nov	Wed.	6PM	Seymour @ Woodland
25-Nov	Thurs.	10:15AM	Wolcott @ Holy Cross

Status of NVL

It was pretty much a consensus last year that the NVL was "down" from previous years. And, from what I have been reading, this may be another down year for the league. Here's a thought to ponder. Could it be that the overall experience, or rather lack thereof, of the head coaches is a contributing factor? In the over 30 years I have been covering the league I can not remember another time when there were so many realatively new coaches.

Naugatuck's Rob Plasky, entering his 10th season, is the longest tenured coach at his current school. He has more wins (53) and losses (41) than any other coach at their current position. But let's not forget that Plasky was 10-1 his first season after taking over for Craig Peters making his record 43-40 after that initial year. The last two years mark the first consecutive losing seasons at NHS since 50 years ago in 1958-59. The last time the program had a longer streak of consecutive losing seasons was from 1945-1952.

Ansonia's Tom Brockett, entering his fifth season, is second in wins with an overall record of 46-5 while Kennedy's Chris Sarlo, now in his sixth season, is second in losses with 38 versus 14 wins. Wins at Ansonia and losses at Kennedy are nothing out of the ordinary, so that should not be too surprising.

The only other coaches who have been at their current school longer than this year's senior class are Jude Kelly, in his sixth season at St. Paul (27-25) and Jason Martinez in his fifth at Crosby (17-24). The other nine head coaches have a combined 11 years of experience as head coaches and a combined record of 58-57.

Scavone & Sileo

On occasion, space constraints prevent me from getting into some subjects as deeply as I'd like to; in my previous post I wrote that Dan Scavone is now the athletics' director at Danbury High School and that Joe Sileo passed away last week.

Unfortunately, I was not able to dedicate as much space to either of them as I would have liked; such are the drawbacks of having five to six pages every seven days compared to five pages seven days a week.

Joe Sileo was a prince of a man; rarely was the local event held in which I did not come across him, sometimes sitting at the same table with him, where I listened as he told his stories about teams and players from long ago, from a better time for locals sports, I believe, when we knew each other better as friends and neighbors as well as teammates.

An American hero, Joe served his country and community well; he did it with a smile on his face and a gentleness and class which always made me feel better for having shred a few hours with him at a dinner or game.

Well done, Mr. Sileo.

Dan Scavone may have finally found his muse in the DHS position; for the last few years, he'd been seeking the exact job description he was hired for.

Dan's a great guy, a neighbor or mine in Watertown, and I've made little secret that I'd love to see him at Watertown High School, but with the current problem just getting a budget to keep what we have in place passed, that opportunity hasn't been there, nor will it likely be in the near future.

When I talked to him upon finding out about his appointment, he was one happy man, telling me that this position was what he seeking, a chance to be a "full-time athletic administrator."

Danbury High School and the Fairfield County Conference are lucky to have him; he's a forward-thinker and DHS is a sleeping giant in need of the kick Dan will surely administer.

Someone asked me if it bothered me that the R-A has a lot of Watertown stuff in it on Thursdays, which it doesn't, not one little bit; after all, they have to fill - as I mentioned before - at least five pages seven days a week with fewer resources than they used to have.

They do it very well and are great guys; never had a run-in with any of them.

I believe I do it well as a one-man staff who covers the games, writes the stories and summaries and then lays out the entire section on Tuesday/Wednesday.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing to deal with is knowing and having a story before they do, but being unable to get it out there first.

Occasionally I do get it out there first (Rico Brogna's retirement from baseball and most of his jobs afterwards, Lisa Mariano's appointment as WHS girls' soccer coach, Mike Veronneau's appointment as football coach on this blog), which is a great feeling, because I'm a competitive person.

Having said that, I know that it's several against one, but does it bother me that the R-A does Watertown stuff on Thursday?

No, because they know we've been here for over 60 years and will be here for another 60 and cover Watertown better than anyone...that isn't going to change, either.

From my 8/19 column

Dan Scavone of Watertown took over as the new A.D. at Danbury High School on Monday.

"He was my first choice,'' DHS Principal Robert Rossi told the Danbury News-Times about Scavone. "And he was the (search) committee's first choice. He's a very impressive guy. He comes with 20 years of athletic experience and he has administrative experience."

When I talked to Scavone, the former Woodland RHS boss was thrilled to be in the FCIAC.

“This is more in line with being a full time athletic administrator, which is what I really want to be,” he said.

Our sympathy goes out to the family and friends of Joe Sileo, a local sports legend and one of the most pleasant people I’ve known. His was a life well-lived.

Max Preps

Last winter the CIAC and Max Preps signed an agreement naming Max Preps as the "Official Statistician and Media Partner". I decided, with the start of football season about a month away, to check out their site. Nothing, other than schedules, have been loaded on the site yet this year, but looking at some other areas I did find where St. Paul/Goodwin Tech is listed as one of several "Freelance" teams. Funny, I remember the Falcons joining the NVL a year ago. I also read on the St. Paul web site that the CIAC has rejected St. Paul's appeal to allow nine players from Goodwin Tech to finish playing for St. Paul even though the teams are no longer fielding a co-op team this year. Seems to me the CIAC and their Media Partner need a little communication between them.

Looking a little further on the site I was able to pull up the pre-season rankings for Connecticut. The Voyce will tell you how I feel about rankings, especially preseaon ones, for high school sports, but I thought I would share what they have. Looking for the NVL teams they have the schools listed in the following order: 25-Holy Cross, 32-Ansonia, 33-Wolcott, 38-Woodland, 41-Watertown, 54-Sacred Heart, 57-Torrington, 62-Derby/O'Brien RVT, 64-Naugatuck, 74-Wilby, 85-Kennedy, 92-Crosby, 109-Seymour, and, behind the new programs at Coginchaug (134), Granby Memorial (136) and Lewis Mills (137) coming in at 138 of 143 Connecticut teams St. Paul/Goodwin Tech. I guess that 1 point loss at eventual state champion and preseason number one New Canaan in last year's semifinal game really hurt the Falcons more than anyone knew.

This just in

Just received word that there is a revision needed concerning the post right beneath this one.

Watertown's scheduled September 10 football scrimmage against Lewis Mills has been cancelled, so I'd suggest it would be a good idea to see a movie or go have a delicious pizza and a cold one on a Friday night!

WHS scrimmages

Something to whet your football appetite.

Watertown High School athletics' director June Legge and football coach Mike Veronneau have announced that the Indians will be taking part in three pre-season scrimmages.

WHS will visit New Milford High School on Wednesday, September 1 for a 3:30 p.m. scrimmage against the Green Wave.

Three days later, the Indians will face Foran High School of Milford in another road scrimmage, scheduled for 10 a.m.

In their final tune-up, the Indians will host Lewis Mills at the John Mills Athletic Complex on Friday, September 10 at 7 p.m.

Watertown will make regular season debut under Veronneau against Kennedy High School on Friday, September 17 at Municipal Stadium at 7 p.m.

Scavone moves on

Congratulations to Dan Scavone, who has been selected as the new Athletic Director at Danbury High School, where he will take over on Monday, August 16.

Scavone, of Watertown (Full disclosure: A neighbor), was the AD at Nonnewaug Regional H.S, this past school year; prior to that, he was the principal at his alma mater, Holy Cross H.S. and before that, he was the first AD at Woodland Regional High School, responsible for the hiring of the coaches who grew the Hawks' NVL brand immediately.

A great hire the Hatters and the FCIAC as a whole, Scavone is a dedicated to always making sure that his coaches and athletes have the necessary means to not just competing, but succeeding.

If only we could get him to Watertown High School.

Thoughts on a whirlwind week

Weeks like the one coming to it's end are weeks I live for.

So many things going on, people inquiring about what just happened and what might happen ahead, as if there are certainties attached to any of it.

To recap, we've seen the close of one era at Watertown High School and are about to witness the beginning of another, as Roger Ouellette's departure and the arrival of Mike Verronneau as his replacement as WHS football coach became official.

Verroneau is the fourth coach in the history of the WHS varsity program, which will begin it's 46th season on Friday, September 17 against Kennedy High School at the Mills Athletic Complex.

Complex is something Verroneau is not; when I asked him about his approach and how much he'll change the offensive and defensive tactics he said, "Football is football - you block, run and tackle...If we block, run and tackle effectively, we'll be fine."

If Veronneau can mold senior quarterback into his Watertown version of Dave Gondek, look out, because the Indians will be better than fine, especially if a second wide out to take the pressure off Tony Simpson emerges.

I believe the WHS program will be fine; said one respected football figure I contacted yesterday: "They made absolutely the right choice; he'll be a great head coach."

To date, Ouellette's staff is expected to remain intact, as Keith Borkowski and Jerry Valentino have told me they will stay on; currently, there is expected to be one opening which Verroneau hopes to fill quickly.

Also coming on board is new WHS girls' soccer coach Lisa Mariano, as I reported exclusively in the August 5 edition of the Town Times.

An All-State and three-time All-NVL selection while at Naugatuck High School, Mariano went on to star at Stony Brook (NY) University, where she continued to stand out, leading the Seawolves to the NCAA tournament.

Despite starting her playing career at age five, Mariano didn't foresee coaching as an option.

"I really didn't until think about it until I finished school (earning a nursing degree from Wagner College in 2005), and Mr. (Art) Nunes got me into it," Mariano told me in an interview this week. "I was thinking I'd just be coaching little kids, which is fun, but Mr. Nunes got me into it with the Ponte Club and it just sort of went from there."

From there to the Naugy JV position to the head job with the two-time defending NVL Brass Division champion Indians; will she be feeling any pressure to come in and maintain the high level?

"Sure, you want to come in and win, and I'm excited about coming to a really good program and I'm looking forward to the challenge of keeping Watertown at a high level."

Both Veronneau and Mariano are solid appointments, but make no mistake about it, Schools Superintendent Karen Baldwin has made a statement by going outside the the local system in both hires, which has arched not a few eyebrows in Watertown.

It's weeks like this I live for; four Yankee- Red Sox games lie ahead to cap it off.

Correction

These things happen: Yesterday, two sources told me about the WHS girls' soccer position, but they (and I for going with it) were wrong. I learned today that the new coach will be former Naugatuck H.S. All_NVL'er and All-Stater as well as Stony Brook (NY) University standout Lisa Mariano.

My apologies; you really never can have enough sources, can you?

Sources confirm

Have it from reliable sources that Crosby H.S. assistant Mike Verroneau will be the new head coach at Watertown High School and former Holy Cross and UMass standout Christina Nunes will take over the WHS girls' soccer team.