Bits & Pieces

By Kim J. Harmon

 

Lot’s of people are thinking it, but I’ll be the first one to say it in print – the Newtown High School co-ed cheerleading squad was robbed at the South-West Conference championships this past weekend in Brookfield.

And I’m not saying that just because my son and I had to wait almost two hours to see them get on the mat.

I know the girls are real happy about finishing third – their best ever finish in the SWCs – but in my mind (and, admittedly, I don’t know all the intricacies of cheerleading stunts and whatnot) they finished at least second, if not first. They had a difficult routine with lots of tumbling and only one minor fault.

Pomperaug performed a real difficult routine, but failed two or three moves, yet somehow scored well enough to finish first. Bethel – the only team to perform a flawless routine – took second and probably should have finished first.

There wasn’t a French judge on that panel, was there?

1 1 1

Oh yeah, Brookfield High School swim coach Brian Reiff was wearing his trademark boots on the pool deck and was throwing in some wrinkles in the meet with his former team last Thursday (like having a kid swim the butterfly in the 100 freestyle) and showcasing a team that is unbelievably strong.

He has a sophomore – a sophomore, for crying out loud – who swam a 20.85 in the 50 freestyle. I told my kids all about that as they prepared for the middle school championships last Saturday (which coach Reiff also developed and runs) and my 13-year-old daughter – whose personal best in the 50 free is a respectable 36 and change – was agog.

A 20.85?

A time like that gets you a scholarship somewhere.

“He has two speeds – here he comes and there he goes.” – Barry Wilburn on NFL player Roy Green

1 1 1

After some 25 minutes of on-field action, the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers were at the precise point where I thought they would be – at 0-0 with no end to the punt fest in sight – and so I just had to change gears and watch Sherlock Holmes and the Pearl of Death on DVD and when I got back to the game … whoa!

Once these two teams started scoring, it turned into a heck of a game (unlike what Phil Simms kept saying, that the game was still exciting at 0-0). The fourth quarter was one of the most exciting I could remember and the finish was simply classic.

Fans of the New York Giants, of course, can empathize with the Panthers, who – after their go-ahead TD – kicked the ball out of bounds and gave the Patriots superb field position. The Giants lost a key game with Dallas during the regular season for just that same reason.

Now I’m just glad it’s all over and we can start saying those three magical words – pitchers and catchers.

“Ninety feet between bases is perhaps as close as man has ever come to perfection.” – Red Smith