Patrick Newell

On the heels of my last blog, where I expressed concerns and complaints about the Norwich school curriculum, I launch into another set of gripes, and I must admit, not-so-well-disguised whining…

I saw three high school football games this weekend – two started in the afternoon, and one began in the late afternoon/early evening. If I have not said it before, I will say it again: I like afternoon football games better than night games. Night football games provide a level of ambience and perhaps some extra level of excitement that is nice – to me – once in a while. Not for every home game, though. Not every game is of crucial importance in terms of a rivalry or a key division game. To compare, what time of day do teams at higher levels of football play? In the NFL, the majority of games begin at either 1 p.m or 4 p.m. For college football, a large percentage of games are played in the afternoon. All week, high school kids practice after school – in the afternoon. Yet for all six of our Chenango County teams, their regular home games are scheduled for Friday night. I suppose my preference is due in part to how I grew up. Norwich played Saturday afternoons at Alumni Field, and the backdrop behind the visiting team’s bench was gorgeous.

Speaking of night games, the majority of Norwich’s varsity home soccer games – boys and girls – are scheduled for 7 p.m. I’m sure the athletics program appropriated the additional funds to light up the multi-purpose turf field. But why? Perhaps I am showing my age, but I grew up playing and watching soccer games during the day. Playing soccer in the day seems like a natural fit. I have attended a large number of night soccer games at Norwich over the past three years, and those games do not appear to garner any more fans that the typical 4:30 p.m. games. The occasional night game for soccer is nice, such as senior recognition night. But really, in this time of budgetary concerns, should we be spending extra money on something (night lighting) that is more a luxury than a necessity? Playing strictly day games may not save a lot of money, but it would be a pain-free way to reduce costs. Need more convincing? About seven miles down the road is Emerson Soccer Complex, a piece of property in Oxford with multiple state-of-the-art soccer fields. Look around, there are no lights to be found. Every game is a day game, and no one has complained – to my knowledge – about the lack of lights for night games. Don’t think I’m picking on just Norwich. A lot of local schools work night soccer games into their schedules. Like I said earlier, unless it’s a tournament final or a special occasion, the special feeling of playing a night soccer game is lost.

Close soccer games seem to be the norm in the early stages of the season. Three of the seven soccer games reported to me last night went to extra minutes, and last weekend, Sherburne-Earlville’s girls played a pair of overtime games – one a win, the other a loss – at the Hamilton tournament. At the least, for me, overtime games make for a more interesting story material. For coaches, it make cause early onset of grey hair.

Follow Patrick Newell on Twitter @evesunpat

Patrick Newell

Between my own children and my significant other Aida’s, we have seven young ladies and men attending Norwich schools. Six of those seven are either in the middle school or high school. The two of us stand unified in our belief that the challenge of the Norwich curriculum is not acceptable.
The most recent head-scratching decision by the school district was the change in schedule. The standard schedule for non-elementary students was changed to 7:45 a.m to 2:15 p.m. Before, middle school and high school students were dismissed in the 3 p.m. range.
Meanwhile, elementary children are attending school from 8 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. If my math is correct – and I believe it is – a Norwich first-grader now has a longer school day than middle school and high school students. Hmmm? Does that seem right?
I have yet to hear of a intelligent reason that necessitated the shorter school day for older students other than accommodating the bus schedule. The bus schedule has remained nearly the same for at least 40 years. If it ain’t broke, why try to fix it?
Our real concerns are the soft schedule and the relative ease with which kids are able to obtain good grades. I nearly fell over when I saw the middle school schedule for one of our children. As most Norwich parents know, the schedule is blocked and alternates between “Purple” and “White” days. On the first day, our child has a fairly busy schedule of classes, and his day ends with a study hall. Day two, however, is absurdly light. I’ll lay it out for you, and I’m sure our child’s schedule is not unique. In the morning, our child undertakes a rigorous load of English and Art before a much-needed 35-minute lunch. After regrouping during the lunch period, an exhausting homestretch of classes includes Math, study hall, gym, and yes…wait for it, another study hall. Our child’s entire school day, for the first marking period, includes just two academic classes on his “White” day.
I don’t know about other parents, but when I went to Norwich Middle School, I spent my entire day attending classes – EVERY DAY! I had never heard of the term, “study hall” until I reached high school.
The school might argue that the curriculum in place lends itself to success. Just look at the Norwich high school and middle school honor roll lists. Our all-purpose, invaluable employee at The Evening Sun, Jan Rowe, has cramping fingers and early symptoms of carpal tunnel after typing in all of Norwich’s kids on the honor roll. When Norwich reveals its honor roll “honorees” at the end of each marking period, the list is extensive. The past couple of years, I counted the names by grade who either made the high honor or honor roll. In the high school alone, the kids in grades 9-12 on either honor roll list ranged from around 75 kids per grade level to as many as 114. In all, more than 50 percent of the kids attending Norwich High School last year made some sort of honor roll.
Does anyone believe that number is especially high? I flipped back to the honor roll lists from when I was in school. (I had to dust off some old, bound books to acquire this information). The percentage of kids on honor roll or honor roll was around 20 to 25 percent. Aida attended Gonzaga Prep, a private Catholic school in Spokane, Washington. She remembers her school’s honor roll list including 10 to 15 percent of the student body. Are today’s kids, our children, really that much smarter than we were? If you base your conclusion on honor roll lists, the answer would be yes. In truth, we as parents know that conclusion is not true.
Please, do not infer that I believe all children are not deserving of their grades. To me, this abundance of scholastic honorees at Norwich does a disservice to the most deserving, intelligent, and hard-working students who would make the honor roll in any school district in any era of education. I have spoken to a number of recent NHS graduates over the past couple of years. All of them agreed that the Norwich curriculum (save the advanced placement classes) is easy. Some consider it almost laughable.
The honor roll used to be a achievement of distinction. Yet, if the Norwich honor rolls are more inclusive than exclusive, what is that teaching our children?
I certainly do not blame the teachers. They are all working within the system that is in place, and every teacher I personally know is exceptional and dedicated. That said, how can they prepare kids to the best of their ability when they are now given less time to do it?
A shorter school day equals less time in the classroom. How does less classroom time benefit our children?

Patrick Newell

From the middle of June until the middle of August, the amount of sports news that crosses my desk dips significantly. I usually take my last vacation of the summer the second week of August – right before the first day of high school sports practices. When I return to work after vacation, I know the high school sports season is right around the corner, and I have about two weeks to gather information on the area’s high school sports teams for our annual Fall Sports Preview.As is the norm, I traveled to every corner of Chenango County, took countless pictures, called and re-called coaches, and finally spent countless hours writing approximately 13,000 words for the preview on 34 different sports teams. Thursday, the fruits of my labor will appear in a special supplement to our regular edition. I know some sports have already started their regular season, but to quote an old saying, “let the games begin!”

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One of the truest axioms is that time relentlessly moves forward, and eventually leaves us all behind. In the sports sense, one by one, the contacts with whom I have associated for over a decade and a half are slowly fading away. Not dying, but retiring from teaching and coaching.
I never looked at myself as a veteran reporter until one of my favorite coaches of all time retired. Bill Case was one of the first coaches I met during my initial days of my job. We became close professional associates, and ultimately good friends. Four years ago, Bill stepped aside as the longtime basketball coach of the Greene Trojans – my 12th year on the job. I had well over a decade of experience, yet it all seemed to move so fast.
One by one, my originals (those who have coached since my opening day) have stepped aside to move into the next phase of their lives. Most recently, I phoned Otselic Valley’s longtime teacher and coach, Dave Loomis. Loomis has coached three varsity sports since my opening day. He has remained consistently professional and accommodating from the first day I spoke to him. Dave told me earlier this week that he had retired from the school district, and was giving up coaching the soccer and baseball programs. He will remain, at least for this year, the varsity basketball coach. I thought Dave Loomis was the “coach for life” at OV, and it will be a bit strange not fielding his game reports.
Along the lines of time pressing forward. The hair on my head is much longer, the hair on my chin is much grayer, and two of my three kids are now in high school. My oldest is a member of the Norwich varsity soccer team, and I can legitimately place his name in the paper in complete absence of nepotism. My oldest daughter, who just celebrated her 14th birthday, was recruited by three different NHS extracurricular organizations. Unfortunately, she is so busy taking about 25 dance classes (slight exaggeration), she had to pass on the invitations.

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One of my oldest sports section contributors, Bob McNitt, gave me a call earlier today. He began his outdoors column in 1977, but had to go on hiatus the past few months for reasons that were not disclosed. Tomorrow, we disclose those reasons in a letter from Bob to the readers. Suffice to say, it was a relief to hear from Bob, and I hope to have his weekly column back on the sports pages fairly soon.

Patrick Newell

Where has the time gone? When I began at the newspaper in August of 1995, Bill Clinton was well into his first term as president, I was about 20 pounds heavier, my hair was much shorter – and still primarily dark brown – and the first of my three children, Elijah, was an infant of two months. Yesterday, June 22, my son turned 16 years old. This infant I cradled in my arms nearly 16 years ago is now my height (perhaps a shade taller), and possesses a driver’s permit He also stopped by the Norwich High School guidance office to obtain his official working papers. Time waits for no one, but at least I still have my waist line, just like our thinned down 43rd president.

Patrick Newell

* Oxford’s baseball team pulled off perhaps the biggest upset of the Section IV tournament Wednesday afternoon. A number 15 seed with an inauspicious 6-10 record, the Blackhawks stunned number two seed Union Springs, 7-2. Union Springs was coming off an IAC league championship, but was missing its number one pitcher due to injury. The playoffs are all about momentum and peaking at the right time. The Blackhawks started four freshman and two sophomores. In other words, two-thirds of the starting lineup could have played junior varsity. This year, however, the Blackhawks do not have a JV team, and these young men have proven themselves more than worthy to compete on the varsity level.

* I was speaking to a golf partner earlier this week about the large number of fine individual and team performances this week. The week began with Norwich clinching a Class B team tennis title before the championship rounds were even completed. It got better for Norwich as Eli Craig gave Norwich its first singles championship in decades, and three other Norwich players earned spots in the state qualifier. Also Monday night, Oxford senior Haley Witchella proved herself the most versatile of track and field athletes winning the Section IV pentathlon title. Witchella also helped Oxford to win its first sectional title in track and field. And coming full circle back to golf, Norwich junior Eric Walling played his way onto the Section IV state team. Walling finished sixth overall in the Section IV medalist tournament, and will represent Section IV next week.

* I would be remiss if I did not bid Evening Sun reporter, Tyler Murphy, a fond farewell. Today was Tyler’s last “full” day of work, and tomorrow will be sort of a victory lap for our crime/fire reporter, one that will culminate in a celebratory lunch with Sun staff members at Fred’s Inn. Most people who read the Sun know that Tyler worked for us in two stints. I cannot say I remember much about part one of his career here. Jeff Genung, our editor, saw enough in Tyler to bring him back for part two, and Tyler has not disappointed. Perhaps Tyler needed to do some inner soul searching in his time away from us, and what he found during his hiatus worked. The past two years he has been that much more mature and that much more professional.
The beat that Tyler has covered so well the past few years can really wear a person down. Especially when you are consistently exposed to so much ignorance, dishonesty, and depravity. Despite that, Tyler has remained upbeat, wistful, and optimistic during his stay. He can laugh at himself, and his dry sense of humor was a perfect complement to our newsroom dynamic. I typically only saw Tyler in the first two to three hours every morning – and sometimes late in the evening. He was always a welcomed face, and for whatever reason, I found his laid-back demeanor particularly relaxing. I get a sense that Tyler is still searching for his niche in life, and knowing how introspective he can be, I am sure he is probably thinking the same thing. Good luck my friend, you will be missed.

Follow Patrick Newell on Twitter @evesunpat

Patrick Newell

In Bob McNitt’s outdoors column, he confirmed with historical data what we already knew: It’s raining cats and dogs this spring. Since March 1 until yesterday (the day McNitt submitted his column) we have experienced 57 days of precipitation out of 79 total days. In 1976, the year the total precipitation record was set, we had 48 days of precipitation in the same time frame. As a result, high school sports teams have found narrow windows to squeeze in games this spring, and playing two-thirds of seven-week schedule in about 10 school days has placed a huge burden on pitching staffs. This isn’t professional baseball where teams carry a minimum of 10 to 12 able-bodied pitchers. This is a rurally-based county with schools drawing from a small population of athletes. Most teams are fortunate to have two quality pitchers, and perhaps one or two others who can give an inning or two. Playing four or five games in a week affects overall performance – and is probably wearing out the arms of the best pitchers.

Norwich and the surrounding communities lost one of the truly good guys earlier this week. Eddie Caputo, as I knew him, passed away early Monday morning after a battle with cancer. Caputo graduated from Norwich in 1972, and was a standout high school and collegiate wrestler. As a kid at Norwich, I remember Eddie serving as an assistant wrestling coach to Don Kovalchik. I have an image in my mind of Eddie coming out of the wrestling room in a sweatshirt and sweatpants, and he was as sweaty and worn out as the rest of the high school wrestlers. He served as a junior varsity coach for many years, and after that remained a dedicated supporter of the program. Eddie was an acquaintance to me, but I grew to know him well by his upstanding reputation and his good works. His obituary in Thursday’s paper captures a large part of his essence: He was devoted to his family, his faith, and the City of Norwich. Everything good about Norwich was embodied in Eddie Caputo. He was a tireless spirit full of positive energy, and that spirit will live on in his family and the lives of the people he touched.

Mother Nature rained on the Midstate Athletic Conference softball championship game Thursday afternoon between Greene and Afton. Knowing the ominous weather forecast, I placed a call with Greene athletics coordinator, Jeff Paske, early in the afternoon. I asked him to please give me a call in the event of a postponement. At 3:45 p.m., I trekked with Sun photographer Frank Speziale down Route 12. As we were entering Greene around 4:15, Paske buzzed in to let me know the game was postponed until Monday. It wasn’t a complete waste, as Frank reminded me. The gas used will be reimbursed, and what are the chances it will rain again on Monday? Based on the earlier statistics given by Bob McNitt: About 72.1 percent.

Follow Patrick Newell on Twitter @evesunpat

Patrick Newell

Norwich ended a 15-year drought between Southern Tier Athletic Conference track and field division titles. The Tornado boys beat Johnson City last week in lopsided fashion to complete a perfect run through the STAC Central Division. Over the past two seasons, Norwich has just one division loss, yet, Norwich failed to make a dent in the Section IV Class B meet a year ago, and scored just eight total points at the STAC Championships.
At Ithaca High School Thursday afternoon, Norwich is one of the dark horse contenders as it bids for its first STAC championship since 1977. “I’ve ran all the numbers and played the scoreboard game with our seeds. We should do really well,” said Norwich coach Paul Sims. “Vestal is going to be tough. If some things go our way and some don’t go their way, we could post an upset.”
While Norwich performed well in the regular season last year, it didn’t have the same number of top-level performers as this year, and not the amount of depth up and down the lineup. According to pre-meet seedings Norwich has a seeded athlete in most of the events with Matt Murray (800 meters) and Patrick Taylor (long jump) bringing in top seeds. “I think it may boil down to a kid who hasn’t maybe stepped up yet or isn’t seeded, and he comes through with a place finish to give us some extra points,” Sims said.
At the least, Norwich’s program is gaining notice from other teams in STAC, Sims said, and he would be disappointed if Norwich does not finish among the top three teams. “With how we’ve performed this year…we were decent last year, but we’re much better this year,” he said. “We’ve had countless good performances this year. Other teams are now looking at us and saying, ‘I don’t know if we can beat Norwich.’”

Follow Patrick Newell on Twitter @evesunpat

Patrick Newell

* Athletes will get get injured at some point in their playing careers. For some it might be a sprain or a bad bruise, for others it could be a broken bone or some sort of torn ligament. How an athlete reacts and rehabilitates from an injury says a lot about that person. Tomorrow’s athlete of the week, Caitlin Willis of Greene, suffered one of the most severe injuries one can incur. She had a complete tear of her ACL during the fall soccer, and required complete reconstructive surgery of injured knee. A injury of that sort to a high school athlete usually leaves no hope of competing any any point in the school year. Even though Willis’ occurred over six months, Greene varsity softball coach, Rick Smith, was planning to not have Willis for the spring season. Willis surprised Smith – and her own doctors – with her aggressive rehabilitation. She was in playing shape right off the bat, and Smith said he has seen Willis compensate at all for knee, one that is protected by a brace. “She runs the bases aggressively, and there is no hesitancy at all,” Smith. “I think, because of what happened to her, she is taking advantage of the moments that she has.”

*Perhaps you saw our Norwich Sports Hall of Fame profile on the late Kurt Beyer. It can easily be argued that Beyer is the godfather of modern Norwich sports. He took the football teams to a high level much of his career, and his standard is one all future coaches for the Tornado have aspired to match. This coming Thursday we move into the more modern era of Norwich athletes as we present Jason Morris, a 1992 Norwich grad. Morris had one of the greatest single seasons of any Norwich athlete. He set the single season rushing record, was a co-captain on a 16-win basketball team that laid the foundation for Norwich’s hoops success over the past 20 years, and he completed his athletics career winning a second straight Section IV title in the 100-meter dash. Not to mention, he set a school record in that event.

Follow Patrick Newell on Twitter @evesunpat

Patrick Newell

* Steve Burghardt returned to the dugout to coach the Greene varsity baseball team after approximately a 15-year hiatus. Burghardt was an eleventh-hour selection as coach when the position abrubtly became available in early March. Most of Burghardt’s first coaching tenure pre-dated my time here at the Sun, but I was aware of his tradition of winning. Burghardt guided Greene to several Susquenango Association league titles, and I learned last night that he led the Trojans to the Class C state semifinals almost 20 years ago. Some of the events from Monday night’s loss to Unatego reminded Burghardt of that state semifinals game appearance. This year’s Trojans are littered with freshmen and sophomores playing key roles in the field and on the mound. While the Trojans’ record is average – five wins and five losses – that mark could easily be better. Two of those losses came in the bottom of the seventh after opponents’ rallies, and the Trojans led late in the game against Unatego. If there was any doubt, Burghardt still has the coaching touch.

* I have heard some excellent feedback on our weekly series profiling the first class of Norwich Sports Hall of Fame inductees. Thursday we present the fourth installment of the series, “Mr. Norwich,” Ed Ackley. Ackley epitomizes the phrase, “all-time great,” so please read the recounting of his accomplishments in the early 1950s.

* Before I entered high school, the Norwich track and field team had a long history of excellence. Just in my high school years at NHS, two Section IV boys records were set. One by Jeff Johnson in the high jump, I believe it was 6-foot-8, and Doug Grzibowski, a classmate of mine, who set the Section IV record in the discus throwing it over 172 feet. Grzibowski’s record still stands, as a matter of fact. The last decade-plus, Norwich’s boys have experienced some growing pains, and have gone a long time between division titles. The team experienced a resurgence last year, and with so many athletes back this year, the preseason goal was to reclaim the top spot in the STAC Central Division. In tomorrow’s paper, you will read about Norwich’s convincing win over Owego. That leaves Norwich in a showdown for the division title with Johnson City next week. NHS head coach, Paul Sims, said it would be the first STAC division title for his team since the early 1990s.

Follow Patrick Newell on Twitter @evesunpat

Patrick Newell

* Thursday, we publish the third installment in our series of articles profiling the Norwich Sports Hall of Fame’s inaugural class. In case you noticed, the athletes are appearing on our pages in chronological order dating back to the 1920s. Tomorrow’s athlete, Charles “Doc” Ulrichs graduated in 1945, and for those unaware, the Norwich High School football field was named in his honor about 30 years ago. It’s another interesting read recounting the accomplishments of one of the great athletes who performed at Norwich High School in the first half of the 20th century.

* Yesterday was the 26th day of April, and from my position behind the keyboard last night, it was significant. The spring sports season is nearing its fourth week, yet Tuesday was the first time a full complement of area teams played. When I say “full,” I mean it. Nearly every team in Chenango County in every sport took advantage of the fair climate, and if several local teams weren’t already playing each other, I might have incurred a sudden onset of carpal tunnel syndrome. I will often assess the amount of work I get done by the total word count. In high school and college, a 1,000-word term paper seemed excessive to me, and the time to research, write, and type the reports was exhausting. Last night, while busier than most, totaled over 3,500 words. That sum also includes the various box scores and results that were typed in. Over 20 years ago, I could not fathom putting that many words down on paper. Now, it’s all in a night’s work.

* Norwich hosts the annual REK Invitational Track and Field Meet on Friday night beginning at 5 p.m. The Norwich boys have won the overall title the past two years, but should receive a stiff challenge from B-G/Afton, who is making its first appearance in the meet. Norwich has several top-end athletes who should garner a fair number of victories, while the Bears sport remarkable depth up and down the roster. On the girls’ side, Oxford is expected to attend with sectional champions, Katie Woodford and Emily Woodford, headlining.