Cheshire / Glastonbury Football Class LL Game - Sat at 2pm
2008 Class LL State Championship
No. 1 Glastonbury (12-0) vs. No. 3 Cheshire (10-2)
Saturday, December 6, 2 p.m.
Willow Brook Park, New Britain
And here is the MRJs writeup (by John Pettit) on last night's game.
Tim White
6 comments:
Anyone know if this game is being televised live?
Hats off to the team for a good season......played on grass.
I agree - hats off to a good season but to say it was played on grass is a real stretch. Play on dirt or mud is probably more appropriate...
Coach Ecke's comments from the Record Journal about playing on grass:
CIAC Football: Ecke not happy with natural grass site
By: Bryant Carpenter 12/03/2008
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FARMINGTON - It happens almost every year on the day after the CIAC football semifinals. At the CIAC luncheon, when championship pairings are announced, someone gets a location they don't like.
They can vent. The CIAC football committee members who made the decision are there. But in the end, there's really nothing to do but chew on the gristle and swallow hard.
Wednesday's unhappy diners - over the sites only; the food at The Farmington Club was excellent - were the Class LL qualifiers, Cheshire and Glastonbury.
While CIAC rules say state finals should be played on artificial turf in order to neutralize the potential hazards of winter weather, the Rams and Tomahawks will wage their battle on the natural grass of New Britain's Veterans Stadium on Saturday at 2 p.m.
This did not sit well with Cheshire head coach coach Mark Ecke and, to a lesser extent, Glastonbury head man Peter Pfeffer.
"It was decided a long time ago these games should all be played on turf. They've been played on turf and there's no reason we shouldn't be on turf like everyone else," said Ecke. "We'll show up; we'll play. That's life. It's disappointing to find out there are six state championships and one is on grass and we're the one."
and further remarks from the Cheshire's coach and Glastonbury's coach Pfeffer from the same article:
"We play on turf, they play on grass: I could argue that we'd rather play on turf, but they want to play on turf also," said Pfeffer. "If it doesn't rain or doesn't snow or doesn't freeze, (Veterans) is a great site. It's a great facility."
Unlike Cheshire's Maclary Athletic Complex or Southington's Fontana Field, where the Rams played on Thanksgiving Eve, the grass at Veterans Stadium holds up well. New Britain athletic director Len Corto, the site director for Saturday's game, assured Ecke of its condition.
"He said it is in as good a shape as it can be."
Given that explanation, can Ecke live with the location?
"No," he replied. "They put us in a situation where - and I don't think it's going to happen, but - with weather, the field can become a factor in the game, and that shouldn't be allowed to happen."
Should the forecast change, New Britain has assured the CIAC it will mobilize to keep the field playable. As for the players, they're not overly fazed. They say it's not the surface that will count, but what they do upon it.
"Wherever we play, we've just got to play our game," said Cheshire linebacker David Dillon "We play our game, we're going to be fine."
"Most of us like turf, but grass if fine," Cheshire lineman Tom Acampora said. "If it's a real good grass field, you can't beat it. I love grass.
Is it me, or does Ecke seemed like a complainer - maybe he should stay home! And take note that the Cheshire players are saying that grass is just FINE - they love it. Give me a break, coach.
Why not just play fantasy football if you want to control every aspect of the game? Does everything always have to be perfect? Play the game the way it was meant to be played and just "win baby, win".
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