This & That Submitted by VT Journal on Tue, 01/07/2014 - 3:14pm Bellows Falls and Springfield played another rivalry game on Saturday. This time around it was boys basketball. Taking in the game, the one thing that stood out, is how few fans were in attendance, who did not have a connection to those competing in the game. For years, you would find the majority of players parents and relatives in attendance, but well more than half the fan base, would be made up with the Terrier and Cosmo die hard fans, who kept coming back year after year. People may think that those fans attended because those were the golden years of the sport. That was not exactly the case. There were plenty of years that close to capacity crowds attended these match-ups in either gym, when both teams had losing records. What has been observed in recent years is that many of the parents do not even attend. From the other perspective, it didn't seem that there were even twenty-five fans from the two communities combined, who were just genuine fans. Unfortunately, the players are the losers with this lack of support. Next comes, our annual plea for former athletes and die-hard fans to pledge to take in a game or two. Today’s athlete deserves a chance to have the same feeling, generations before them had, when larger crowds were a part of the community fabric. EVERYONES THE SAME- In no way do we want anyone to think that BF and Springfield are alone in not packing the house any longer. Windsor probably has the biggest crowds within miles, but Harry Ladue told us recently in a conversation, "We don't get anywhere near the crowds we use to." Most likely, there are just so many things to do in everyone’s world today, and just like there are less athletes going out for sports in general, there are less fans as well. It is obviously the way the world turns today, but from this vantage point, it is no way near for the better. COMPETITIVE CONTEST- When asked early Saturday, how we expected the rivalry game to come out, our thought was this would be a lively competitive encounter and it was. The final score found Bellows Falls winning by a comfortable twelve-point margin 49-37, but it was 29-29 with 5:01 to play, when either the Terriers played exceptional defense or the Cosmos just went cold. Kendrick Mills (20 points), Brian McAnuff (6) and Joe White (5) made shots when they counted, to allow BF to pull it out down the stretch. BF coach Evan Chadwick was pleased with how the trio hit their shots when it mattered, but he was also excited of the contributions of Zach Brooks and David and Jerimiah Dunbar, as he felt "all their contributions were needed to win this one." PEAK PECK OBSERVATION- Enjoyed a stimulating conversation with Cosmo coach Pete Peck before the game. The former Cosmo was candid of how he felt when Bellows Falls was the opponent on the hardwood in high school. "I didn't know those players, except for playing against them, and I didn't want to know them. I didn't like purple as a color and I would NEVER think of wearing anything purple," Peck recalled. Think of this what you may, but there were hundreds, could we say thousands, of players from both sides of this rivalry in all sports, over the years, who felt this way. No one should think twice about the days gone by competitiveness of this rivalry, which was fueled by more than anything else, by parents, relatives and fans, who just happened to work beside each other in the machine shops in Springfield. It excites this scribe to use the words machine town again in reference to Springfield and there may be all kinds of readers, who have never heard the term, paper town, connected to Bellows Falls. In a historical perspective, few youngsters may realize that there are all kinds of buildings still standing in both communities, which use to define the backbone of their existence. Back to Peck, because his references became more intriguing as the discussion carried on. He mentioned how he noticed, when members of his team wore purple ties and when he was asked, if he thought AAU basketball had allowed the athletes to get closer to each other and changed the face of the rivalry, he felt it was much beyond the assemblage of Terriers and Cosmos. Peck feels AAU may have made a difference, but he tended to think that the social medium world we live in today was closer to the answer. "It's so easy for them to get to know each other today. Most of them know players from the other team, which wasn't the case when I played," he related. Peck concluded in the end, that he enjoyed feeling the way he did about the rivalry as a player, but realistically admits today, "This is probably a better way for everyone." TRACK CEREMONY- One last mention of last Saturday at BF. The Terriers raised a banner in honor of the 2013 spring track team, which captured the boys state title. Principal Chris Hodsden, a graduate of BFUHS, proudly mentioned in his official remarks, "If you count the number of championship banners hanging in this gym, there is an average of more than one for every year the school has been opened."
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Take in a game
Fan attendance at high school basketball games is dwindling. Today’s athlete deserves a chance to have the same feeling, generations before them had, when larger crowds were a part of the community fabric.
This & That Submitted by VT Journal on Tue, 01/07/2014 - 3:14pm Bellows Falls and Springfield played another rivalry game on Saturday. This time around it was boys basketball. Taking in the game, the one thing that stood out, is how few fans were in attendance, who did not have a connection to those competing in the game. For years, you would find the majority of players parents and relatives in attendance, but well more than half the fan base, would be made up with the Terrier and Cosmo die hard fans, who kept coming back year after year. People may think that those fans attended because those were the golden years of the sport. That was not exactly the case. There were plenty of years that close to capacity crowds attended these match-ups in either gym, when both teams had losing records. What has been observed in recent years is that many of the parents do not even attend. From the other perspective, it didn't seem that there were even twenty-five fans from the two communities combined, who were just genuine fans. Unfortunately, the players are the losers with this lack of support. Next comes, our annual plea for former athletes and die-hard fans to pledge to take in a game or two. Today’s athlete deserves a chance to have the same feeling, generations before them had, when larger crowds were a part of the community fabric. EVERYONES THE SAME- In no way do we want anyone to think that BF and Springfield are alone in not packing the house any longer. Windsor probably has the biggest crowds within miles, but Harry Ladue told us recently in a conversation, "We don't get anywhere near the crowds we use to." Most likely, there are just so many things to do in everyone’s world today, and just like there are less athletes going out for sports in general, there are less fans as well. It is obviously the way the world turns today, but from this vantage point, it is no way near for the better. COMPETITIVE CONTEST- When asked early Saturday, how we expected the rivalry game to come out, our thought was this would be a lively competitive encounter and it was. The final score found Bellows Falls winning by a comfortable twelve-point margin 49-37, but it was 29-29 with 5:01 to play, when either the Terriers played exceptional defense or the Cosmos just went cold. Kendrick Mills (20 points), Brian McAnuff (6) and Joe White (5) made shots when they counted, to allow BF to pull it out down the stretch. BF coach Evan Chadwick was pleased with how the trio hit their shots when it mattered, but he was also excited of the contributions of Zach Brooks and David and Jerimiah Dunbar, as he felt "all their contributions were needed to win this one." PEAK PECK OBSERVATION- Enjoyed a stimulating conversation with Cosmo coach Pete Peck before the game. The former Cosmo was candid of how he felt when Bellows Falls was the opponent on the hardwood in high school. "I didn't know those players, except for playing against them, and I didn't want to know them. I didn't like purple as a color and I would NEVER think of wearing anything purple," Peck recalled. Think of this what you may, but there were hundreds, could we say thousands, of players from both sides of this rivalry in all sports, over the years, who felt this way. No one should think twice about the days gone by competitiveness of this rivalry, which was fueled by more than anything else, by parents, relatives and fans, who just happened to work beside each other in the machine shops in Springfield. It excites this scribe to use the words machine town again in reference to Springfield and there may be all kinds of readers, who have never heard the term, paper town, connected to Bellows Falls. In a historical perspective, few youngsters may realize that there are all kinds of buildings still standing in both communities, which use to define the backbone of their existence. Back to Peck, because his references became more intriguing as the discussion carried on. He mentioned how he noticed, when members of his team wore purple ties and when he was asked, if he thought AAU basketball had allowed the athletes to get closer to each other and changed the face of the rivalry, he felt it was much beyond the assemblage of Terriers and Cosmos. Peck feels AAU may have made a difference, but he tended to think that the social medium world we live in today was closer to the answer. "It's so easy for them to get to know each other today. Most of them know players from the other team, which wasn't the case when I played," he related. Peck concluded in the end, that he enjoyed feeling the way he did about the rivalry as a player, but realistically admits today, "This is probably a better way for everyone." TRACK CEREMONY- One last mention of last Saturday at BF. The Terriers raised a banner in honor of the 2013 spring track team, which captured the boys state title. Principal Chris Hodsden, a graduate of BFUHS, proudly mentioned in his official remarks, "If you count the number of championship banners hanging in this gym, there is an average of more than one for every year the school has been opened."
This & That Submitted by VT Journal on Tue, 01/07/2014 - 3:14pm Bellows Falls and Springfield played another rivalry game on Saturday. This time around it was boys basketball. Taking in the game, the one thing that stood out, is how few fans were in attendance, who did not have a connection to those competing in the game. For years, you would find the majority of players parents and relatives in attendance, but well more than half the fan base, would be made up with the Terrier and Cosmo die hard fans, who kept coming back year after year. People may think that those fans attended because those were the golden years of the sport. That was not exactly the case. There were plenty of years that close to capacity crowds attended these match-ups in either gym, when both teams had losing records. What has been observed in recent years is that many of the parents do not even attend. From the other perspective, it didn't seem that there were even twenty-five fans from the two communities combined, who were just genuine fans. Unfortunately, the players are the losers with this lack of support. Next comes, our annual plea for former athletes and die-hard fans to pledge to take in a game or two. Today’s athlete deserves a chance to have the same feeling, generations before them had, when larger crowds were a part of the community fabric. EVERYONES THE SAME- In no way do we want anyone to think that BF and Springfield are alone in not packing the house any longer. Windsor probably has the biggest crowds within miles, but Harry Ladue told us recently in a conversation, "We don't get anywhere near the crowds we use to." Most likely, there are just so many things to do in everyone’s world today, and just like there are less athletes going out for sports in general, there are less fans as well. It is obviously the way the world turns today, but from this vantage point, it is no way near for the better. COMPETITIVE CONTEST- When asked early Saturday, how we expected the rivalry game to come out, our thought was this would be a lively competitive encounter and it was. The final score found Bellows Falls winning by a comfortable twelve-point margin 49-37, but it was 29-29 with 5:01 to play, when either the Terriers played exceptional defense or the Cosmos just went cold. Kendrick Mills (20 points), Brian McAnuff (6) and Joe White (5) made shots when they counted, to allow BF to pull it out down the stretch. BF coach Evan Chadwick was pleased with how the trio hit their shots when it mattered, but he was also excited of the contributions of Zach Brooks and David and Jerimiah Dunbar, as he felt "all their contributions were needed to win this one." PEAK PECK OBSERVATION- Enjoyed a stimulating conversation with Cosmo coach Pete Peck before the game. The former Cosmo was candid of how he felt when Bellows Falls was the opponent on the hardwood in high school. "I didn't know those players, except for playing against them, and I didn't want to know them. I didn't like purple as a color and I would NEVER think of wearing anything purple," Peck recalled. Think of this what you may, but there were hundreds, could we say thousands, of players from both sides of this rivalry in all sports, over the years, who felt this way. No one should think twice about the days gone by competitiveness of this rivalry, which was fueled by more than anything else, by parents, relatives and fans, who just happened to work beside each other in the machine shops in Springfield. It excites this scribe to use the words machine town again in reference to Springfield and there may be all kinds of readers, who have never heard the term, paper town, connected to Bellows Falls. In a historical perspective, few youngsters may realize that there are all kinds of buildings still standing in both communities, which use to define the backbone of their existence. Back to Peck, because his references became more intriguing as the discussion carried on. He mentioned how he noticed, when members of his team wore purple ties and when he was asked, if he thought AAU basketball had allowed the athletes to get closer to each other and changed the face of the rivalry, he felt it was much beyond the assemblage of Terriers and Cosmos. Peck feels AAU may have made a difference, but he tended to think that the social medium world we live in today was closer to the answer. "It's so easy for them to get to know each other today. Most of them know players from the other team, which wasn't the case when I played," he related. Peck concluded in the end, that he enjoyed feeling the way he did about the rivalry as a player, but realistically admits today, "This is probably a better way for everyone." TRACK CEREMONY- One last mention of last Saturday at BF. The Terriers raised a banner in honor of the 2013 spring track team, which captured the boys state title. Principal Chris Hodsden, a graduate of BFUHS, proudly mentioned in his official remarks, "If you count the number of championship banners hanging in this gym, there is an average of more than one for every year the school has been opened."
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