Where will COVID attendance protocols end up tomorrow?
Each day is a changing scene in which no one knows which direction we all head next.
This corner is thankful for how things have played out so far in the high school basketball realm. Every school has a different direction, but some are changing like the weather. We ask everyone to take a second to think about the fact that there are some fans in attendance at high school indoor sporting events this winter. It’s easy to take for granted everyone’s right to attend these games, but, just a year ago the same everyone was completely shut out of the action. It becomes even easier for all to feel entitlement after open attendance at the spring, summer and fall contests. Each school has its own local attendance safety protocol, but, from this vantage point, I feel it was an early season holiday gift for parents to see their children in action at all.
Our fear is that before everything is said and done, protocols of last year will be reenacted and the fans will disappear indoors, but, so far so good with some attendance indoors. Dartmouth College plays Division I basketball and hockey and they just announced they will play for a minimum of a month without spectators. Many fans who attend games there will be limited to ESPN Plus or ESPN3 pay coverage or app radio coverage.
While on the subject of telecasts, the best thing which has come out of fan restrictions at high school indoor events is the availability to stream most games one way or another. Just like you need to check each school’s COVID-19 protocols for their gym, strongly supportive and interested fans need to check where their team’s high school game is available to view each night. Games played on the road might be found in a different place than home games. Some schools are available for free at a home site their school has attached themselves to, or they might be a part of the NFHS network, which is a pay service. The web address for that service is nfhsnetwork.com. Most teams play at least some of their games there.
This is going way back but I loved high school basketball from the time I was 10 years old. Each year I would walk to the home games at the old Bellows Falls Gym and then when the team was on the road, would listen to the Keene Blackbirds on radio station WKNE. The name’s Joe Giovanangeli , the Carey Brothers and Donnie Lamothe would be my heroes on the radio, just like the players in the purple and white of Bellows Falls I saw in person. Truth is, though, I did imagine what the Blackbirds looked like because they were only on the radio. I coached against Giovanangeli years later and he looked nothing like I had imagined.Today’s internet televised games do show you what today’s athletes look like, so hopefully some 10-year-old boys and girls, as well as people of all ages can take a look at these televised games.
By the way, computer novices please don’t shy away from computer streaming. I guarantee someone who you know, or know of, will get you connected if watching these contests can brighten your day. Don’t be afraid to give that acquaintance or your local school a call. Some services do charge a monthly or seasonal fee, but you would be buying a ticket if you were going to the games.
Fingers are crossed that these high school seasons can proceed with as few interruptions as possible. A number of players and coaches have been saddled with the illness already, but so far there are no reports of any serious cases. Prayers go out from here looking for things to shake out to be as normal as possible with minimal players and coaches missing games.
Schedules are different every year, but, the fact Fall Mountain and Stevens had one of their doubleheader basketball rivalries in the seasons first week was exciting. Rarely are rivalry games played to open up the season, but that’s the way it shook out this winter. This scribe believes the hoop games between those two schools come closest in recent years, especially the recent seasons when fans were in the stands, to remind long time basketball fans what true rivalries used to be all about. By the way, while on the subject of rivalries ,the Bellows Falls and Springfield girls met in the first week too. It was a barnburner of a first quarter, however, it was all Cosmos after that.
Great news for New Hampshire area basketball teams as the Division III and IV Tournaments Championship Games will be held at Keene State College. The Fall Mountain girls are a regular visitor to the elite group of teams at the end of just about every season and I won’t be surprised if they end up there again.
They have been running through their early schedule with ease for the most part with victories over Campbell, Mascenic and Raymond by the counts of 53-13, 79-22 and 52-17, an average of 61-17 a contest. They presently sit at 4-0 with their other victory over Stevens 47-35. It doesn’t say here that the Lady Cardinals are in Fall Mountains’ class, but, this team, which is presently 2-1 should have a winning season.
You can’t be sure from just one game but, their competitive play against the Lady Wildcats, make this corner think these two could actually end up facing each other three times this winter, once in the postseason.
Fall Mountain plays four of their next five on the road with the January 10th meeting with Monadnock their only home game until January 21st. Games at Conant on the 18th and that 21st home game against Kearsarge are upcoming encounters to circle on the calendar.
Wildcat head coach Matt Baird-Torney looked back and told us, “Each appearance at the Final Four and Finals has been special, it’s never something the team or I have taken for granted.”
He also told us, “we had the opportunity to play at Keene State College two years ago for both our Semi-Final and Finals game. It was as close to a home court advantage as you could hope for at that point in the season and didn’t have to worry about jet-lag from our travels.”
There is one other area team you can be sure will be advancing a long way at the end of this hoop season and that is the Windsor Lady Yellow Jackets. They are off to a 5-0 start and their scores were 60-17, 81-8, 65-35, 51-32, and 70-38 over Rivendell, Bellows Falls, Thetford, Hartford, and White River Valley, respectively. The Green and Gold have a meeting with Fair Haven at home at 12:30 on New Year’s Eve. The Slaters are the co-top team in Vermont Division II with a loss to their co-leaders Mount Abraham, but, from this vantage point, we expect the Division III Jacks to capture this one.
Local rivalries spice the schedule and we point out that Green Mountain and Springfield play each other in both girls and boys basketball over the next week. The girls clash at Green Mountain tonight at 7 p.m., while the boys are front and center stage Tuesday at Springfield at the same time. The prediction here favors the Cosmos in the girls meeting and Green Mountain with Springfield graduate Brian Rapanotti at the helm in the boys get together.
Bill Murphy is a sports columnist for the Eagle Times.
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