We're back!

I am typing this blog from my new desk in our newly renovated/rebuilt/non-flooded newsroom. And let me tell you, it feels pretty darn good to be back after roughly four months of what I called 'refugee journalism.'

It was a bonding experience to say the least to share our upstairs conference rooms with multiple departments, with four or five of us sharing one conference table and one phone since the May 27 flood in Barre. It's so nice to see some of the reporters and editors and other staff that had spread out to their homes and other office space - and it felt really good to send an email to our athletic directors and coaches telling them to have their coaches stop calling my personal cell phone because we have a new sports-only line.

There's still a lot of work left to be done here, but some big thanks should go out to those who have put in countless hours to get us this far: Shawn Stabell and his staff, Terry Smith, Catherine Nelson, John Mitchell, and everyone else who has done things quietly - thank you, thank you, thank you. The place looks great.

-Anna Grearson

What is happening to our football teams?

Well this isn't how I expected our high school football teams to look headed into Week 3. Sure, Oxbow I expect to do well - they're 1-1 and average a 13-point win, and Montpelier (1-1 with a 12-point loss but playing very well) could only improve, but what is going on with our - recently, anyway - top two teams, Spaulding and U-32?

My friend Mike Crane is a PE teacher and an assistant coach at Mount Abraham, and he recently posted some of his team's stats on Facebook, so it made me curious as to how the rest of the state - and our teams, especially - are stacking up so far.

It wasn't pretty.

D-II U-32 is dead last, not a place the Raiders are used to. Sure, there are growing pains under a new coach, and the new agreement with Harwood may throw a wrench in things, but the coach isn't a bad coach, so, what gives? The Raiders (and the Crimson Tide, but we'll get to them) are one of 10 0-2 teams in the state right now. They average a 54.5-point loss - the worst ratio in the state - and have given up a total of 115 points while scoring just 6.

Spaulding, also 0-2, is not in absolute last in D-I - that prize belongs to Burlington and Essex (which is still quite weird), but still average the second-worst scoring ratio: a 51.5-point loss. They have scored 7 points while watching opponents rack up 110.

U-32 and Spaulding are two of three teams in the state - the other being MSJ - that give up an average of at least 50 points (MSJ gives up 53 per outing).

Neither team meet this fall - which at this point, they would probably welcome. But, Spaulding does face Essex later in the season, which under normal circumstances would be a horrifying idea, at home on Oct. 8. U-32's best chance at a decent game comes twice in two weeks: at home against Bellows Falls Friday, Sept. 30 and home the next Friday (Oct. 7) against Springfield. Both the Terriers and the Cosmos are also winless.

I know it's early, but how realistic is it for these two teams to dig themselves out of such a gaping hole?

-Anna Grearson

 

I have reached the modern age!

I have finally crossed over into the world of Twitter! Follow me at #annagrearson for score updates, updates to this blog and general central Vermont sports information.

 

Miles of Miles quotes

My story about former U-32/UVM athlete Miles Levine walking on to the University of Miami football team that ran in Thursday's edition of The Times Argus was a long one.

But it could've been longer with what everyone had to say about Levine, and stuff from him I was unable to include. These quotes are still important and they show more of the story behind his journey from Middlesex, Vermont to Coral Gables, Florida.

So here they are:

From Doug DeLuca, founder of modern UVM club football:

"Miles is definitely a very enthusiastic player. He always came with a hyped-up attitude, was very full of energy, and was a great teamamte to have. he was always supporting teammates. It was interesting to see him go from what he came in as - he had a love for the game. He took the biggest steps the year after I left by training like crazy. He knew for a year and a half that he was going to go to grad school and that he was going to walk on where he went to grad school. His experience at UVM, I’d like to think he had a good experience at UVM. Club football is just for fun, having that experience and combining that translated into him being on the team in Miami.

"It’s very rare to find someone to commit themselves at that level. I know he had a goal, and that’s commendable in itself to take the steps to achieve it. You have to have respect for him. I didn’t honestly realize what level he was at. I thought of him as a fun guy on the field, not this beast of a guy. He was always big, now he’s just at a whole other level. 

"I saw how hard he was working and I would come up periodically and see the difference. He was so regimented - and that's a huge part of it. He was the most disciplined person on the team."

From Miles Levine:

"I decided i wanted to be a strength and conditioning coach in NFL. I was personal trainer at First in Fitness (Berlin), and I loved training people to make people better. When I made that decision, I knew I wanted to chase my dream of playing D-I football and see if I could do that. I started looking at schools my senior year, and I looked for best academic and best strength and conditioning. The University of Miami, was the top of the list. It's a top 50 grad school in the country, and one of top schools in exercise physiology. Andreu Swasey is one of the top strength guys in the country, in the world really. He's trained some of the best football NFL - Jonathan Casillas, who's a linebacker for the (New Orleans) Saints - Andreu did amazing things for him and his career, and he's really doing a great job doing this srength and conditioning at the University of Miami.

"I've only been through practce once with shoulder pads. I've been up every day at 5 a.m., to the facility at 6, have breakfast with the team, then do sprints and drills, and me and the one other kid who made the team just do sprints for an hour.

"The University of Wermont was really good for me. The main thing I love about Vermont is the friends. The nutrition degree was great but it made me realize I wanted to be involved with athletic nutrtition and how it allows you to perform. It was just like Australia was a stepping stone for me. I got the child in me out of my system, and the University of Vermont really honed that and realized I wanted to be in strength and conditioning and to work in the NFL. It allowed me to train for playing football here. It allowed me to learn the game of football, from Doug Deluca, the student that made that club football team. He did a lot for a lot of kids who still wanted to play football. It allowed me to start playing football, to learn the sportsmanship and what it means to be a football teammate. Playing for that team was a gift, especially that I got to play with him.

"My favorite non-football thing to do...spend time with friends and family. I definitely don't have a lot of time to do it, but I'm blessed with the best family and friends in the world. I believe in myself and tried so hard to accomplish this goal, and the people around me allowed me to believe in myself. A lot of people told me I wasn't big enough, good enough, fast enough, but my mom and my brothers and my sister, my best friends, they all helped me believe in myself and hope all the hardwork is worth it. I wanted to make them proud and didn't want to let them down.

"I worked there (at First in Fitness) my sophomore and junior year while at UVM, so from 2008-2010, and I missed my last UVM football game at the University of Maine. It was the league championship game, but I missed it because worked Saturdays from 12-7 and couldn't get anyone to cover my shift. I loved working there, loved Dave (Pickel) and Chris (Pickel), and I met a lot of people I enjoy staying in contact with. I was blessed to work there, and Dave has really believed in me. He's such a great guy, and a great attribute he has is he loves seeing people he cares about succeed. Our mothers and fathers care, but other than that some people in our lives don't care if we succeed, and some friends may not like seeing you succeed, but he will do everything he can to help you succeed."

-Anna Grearson

 

 

 

When overtime was nearly...not?

So here it is.

Yesterday afternoon, after 80 minutes of soccer in the pouring rain, the Williamstown and Twinfield girls were knotted at 2-2. Time for overtime, of course. At every other high school soccer game I've been to in the past five years, it's an extra 10 minutes of sudden-victory soccer, followed by another 10 minutes of sudden-victory play if no one scores in the first 10 minutes. And, if someone does score, the game is immediately over.

Not so yesterday.

Twinfield scored 1:12 into the first overtime period, and the game should have been over right then and there. The officials insisted the game was to continue not only for the remaining 8:48 but for the entire next 10 minutes, too. What? Where am I? What am I watching? Who are these people?

With Twinfield ahead 3-2 after the first overtime, the officials gave both teams a five-minute break. I went up to where the fans were and spoke with a few, including Trojan girls basketball coach Deb Rathburn. Athletic Director Anthony Spencer, after a lengthy debate on the field with the officials, went inside to print the Vermont Principal's Association rule on soccer overtimes and a parent looked it up on her smartphone. 

While both teams continued to stand in the pouring rain, adults had to figure out the rules. The game was eventually declared over because Twinfield did win in the 82nd minute, but it shouldn't have gone to 90 minutes and there should've been no debate in the first place.

Twinfield won its first game by sudden victory in overtime on Saturday, and the Williamstown boys beat Twinfield in sudden-victory overtime on the other side of the hill yesterday afternoon.

Why were these officials thinking overtime was two 10-minute extra frames, regardless of when one team scores? It was slippery and cold and wet, why were these athletes put through more time? What if they had gotten hurt? What if someone scored after Twinfield did in overtime - would the game be appealed? Some things you can get back with an appeal, but an injury is not one of them.

Learn the rules before you officiate a game, regardless of the level of play. I just don't understand how the mixup happened in the first place.

-Anna Grearson