You thought I was busy before?

8 page CCSU basketball preview special section coming in Friday's paper.

A depressing weekend

Wanted to catch up with some thoughts on the weekend before I go back to working on hoops previews. (Not sure exactly the schedule for the week, but I can promise you lots coming.)
As for football... what a gut-wrenching setback. Hard to place too much blame on the offense, it scored 27. I will say that I didn't understand those early decisions by Mac in the first half that led to TOs... but in the end it came down to "live by the sword, die by the sword."
I don't think it's fair to rip Central for winning a host of close games this year. Did their running, conservative style allow for some close game? Yes. Did it help them win a bunch of games late? Absolutely.
Think of it like a boxer: fans like Mike Tyson, who knocked people out but couldn't last in a long fight. Lennox Lewis, who jabbed his way through 12 boring rounds, won almost all his fights. He just ran into a right hand against Rahman.
That's what happened to the Devils. The opposition threw one final, desperate haymaker and connected.
If Central makes that one last stand, we're talking about a gutty effort to win a road game despite a rash of illnesses. Instead, we're lamenting possible end of what was once a run to a title.
I do think Albany will show up against Wagner, as it can cause a three-team craziness situation (if they got help with a CCSU loss to Monmouth) that I have to investigate further.
The point is, I think both sides of the argument are extreme. This was a bitter loss and everyone should be disappointed since the title was there for the taking (the FCS playoffs are no longer an option either), but I don't think it means that the seven wins are meaningless. They can still get to 9 for I believe the 2nd time in school history. That IS a big deal.
Speaking of bad beats, I'm SICK for the soccer girls. They beat literally every team in the NEC, avenged their one tie with a win in the rematch, and the one loss Sunday ends their run?
Conference tournaments make money, but they are patently unfair.
Unless the Central men use them to make the Sweet 16 in men's soccer. Then I think they're great.
Kidding, of course. Anyway, I truly hope Leah Blayney and company can appreciate what they accomplished. A wonderful year by a great group. And a FANTASTIC job by the football team and all the other students who packed the soccer field for Sunday's game. Wonderful show of support. Really classy move by some of the other teams on campus.
I'll have a men's soccer follow, speaking of great kids, as well this week.

Oops

yes, I realize I named the wrong old QB for Wagner in my story today. The point is the same and the quotes are accurate, I just named the wrong QB. What other team in the world has a 22 year old newcomer AND a 24-year old backup?

That tease

This was one I had to hold onto until Saturday in part because I wanted to see how big it would become, but now it seems less severe. Early in the week there was quite the flu bug going through the football team (not to mention a couple of other teams and now your favorite beat writer just sneezed as he wrote this), but by Friday afternoon I can report that many of the players were back at practice. I was told that Thursday night and saw it for myself Friday. I wouldn't be stunned if a player or two doesn't go Saturday because of it, but the worst seems to have passed. There was one star player I was particularly worried about, but since he practiced Friday I won't embarrass him by saying he was sick.
Preview is in the paper and online, but i forgot to make a pick:
Assuming Central is healthy, they pull it together and win another close one. I think Jason Page is going and Central always plays well when he's around, so I'll say 27-21 in another late rally. If they're sick, all bets are off. But I'll give you a bonus, long-term pick: If Central wins this one, Monmouth is going down in two weeks. Coming home with one big one to go? The Devils won't miss that chance. But first things first.
That all said, I have tons of writing for the paper to do this week, so forgive me if the blogging is scarce this week. Check the paper or NewBritainHerald.com to make sure you see it all.

Just checking in

so you guys wouldn't think I forgot you. Obviously I'm writing like crazy for the paper this week with everything going on. Hope you're reading it all in the Herald or at NewBritainHerald.com.
Yes, shameless plug. I have to buy my Cherry Pepsi somehow.
Wanted to clear up one misconception I've seen out there: CCSU didn't hide Ken's injury last year. Not from me, and not from you guys. They couldn't have because they didn't know about it.
Kenny didn't tell the coaching staff what he was playing through until AFTER the year. He was toughing it out. Which is admirable, even if not always the best thing to do. He told Howie after the year was over. The only thing I haven't asked, because quite frankly I didn't think of it at the time, is why it took so long from the time he told coach until when he's getting surgery. I know the CCSU medical staff and they're VERY good, so I'm sure it's a totally reasonable answer. My guess is they wanted to see if he could play through it.
Schedule for the week: I wrote a quick thing on football for Thursday's paper, soccer stuff will be in Friday's paper and a full football preview Saturday morning. It's possible there will be breaking news late week/weekend. Will let you know if there is. Not tyring to be a tease, as it's quite possible nothing comes of it, but just wanted to remind you to check here once in a while this week. And don't fret, it's nothing earth-shattering like Kenny.
Btw, I saw others have started calling his absence and the missing minutes and points the "Kenny void." I wish I could start a more pleasant trend. But maybe we can get Bruce to use it on opening night?
Also, start working on names now for next year, when a healthy, angry Kenny comes back and starts dunking on people. I vote for the "Ken Horton Revenge Tour." Simple and unoriginal, yet effective. Like most of my stuff.
Also, Lynn, if you read this, I wrote you back. Reply so I can fulfill that article request.

The replacements

Guys, I wouldn't freak out if Tull or any of the other freshmen aren't superstars on Day 1. Just because there's a need now doesn't mean we can expect the world from them right away. I've never said Tull won't contribute. Just saying it won't be fair to ask him to be Ken on Nov. 13.

Kenny update

For those who didn't see my blog Monday night (I know there wasn't much there but I wanted to get something up quick since it was big news) or Marc's report on TV on the 11 pm news, here's the full breakdown on Kenny's injury.
http://www.newbritainherald.com/articles/2009/11/03/sports/doc4aefdd439e4dd455086003.txt

Apparently it goes back much further than I thought. I'd like to apologize publicly for my comments about his lack of aggression down the stretch last year. Apparently he was playing on one leg. He didn't tell me either.

As for the questions of what happens now: I can tell you 2 things from my day-long trip to Detrick on Monday (thanks to both teams for letting me spy to see what kind of plays they're running and talk to the kids). First, there's one lineup where Robby is the 4. We'll call that the "small," lineup.
2nd, you're going to see a lot more pressing and trapping on D. The idea, I think (though perhaps this was going to happen even with Kenny) is since it will be harder to score on offense, to try and make some of those points up on defense.

A couple other notes, which I'll write more about as we get closer. (And I can already hear your keyboards going... don't panic, I haven't forgotten about football. But Kenny quite frankly is the big news of the day.) First, Chris Baskerville is in phenomenal shape. Can he translate that to production? We'll have to wait and see. But if he can run and be a strong presence inside, it will help the "Kenny void," as we'll name it.

Markeys greatly intrigues me because he's bulky and has some touch on his shot. He'll need time to figure everything out though. Vince is playing much better defense than what he did last year in practice, and can shoot the ball from across the street. Joe Efese strikes me as someone who can help defensively right away, though his offense has a ways to go. If those four players all contribute in the ways I mentioned, it could cover the Kenny void.
But that shows you just how special Kenny is when healthy. It will take a village to replace him. Replacing him defensively will be the hard part.

What does this mean for the year? Honestly, I'm not ready to say. The good news is this happened now, and they have the whole year to put a plan together. It's not like losing him heading into March. I don't think they finish worse than last year because others have improved and there are more weapons with the newcomers. Coach likes these challenges, too. Now the Devils have to grind. I promise he'll get every ounce of energy out of this group. But let's just say I'm backing off the pick I was going to make for how they will do this year.
I'll have to change my player of the year pick, too.

Unrelated note: I don't remember if I posted this stuff or not, it's been a crazy week. First, soccer scheduling changes. The women will play their semifinal at 11 am on the soccer field. The 2nd semi is right after, and there. The men will play their senior day game in the evening, I believe at 6, on the football field. Also, big congrats to the XC men for their NEC title.

More to come in the paper on hoops. I wrote a follow to the Albany FB game, don't know if it ran tonight, I wasn't in the office. I'll have a football game preview in Saturday's paper, but not sure about midweek stuff because of this development and soccer previews. Of course, if something huge happens like a Hunter level injury, we'll have it.

My busiest two weeks of the year just got crazier, Bear with me. Please keep questions coming to mstraubblog@hotmail.com , just don't kill me if it takes awhile to respond this week.

Big, bad news

Obvioiusly, MUCH more to come on this in the next 2 days, but I do have to share with you a sad and surprising (at least to me) turn of events.
Ken Horton, with that bad hip, is now going to miss the entire season. He will redshirt and be eligible for a 5th year in 2011-2012 (someone check my math there on the year, I'm rushing.)
But here's the good news: He is expected to make a FULL recovery and be back 100 percent next year.

Wait!

Albany gets onside kick. Saunders sacks espo on first down. Long pass to McCarty on 2nd down. Espo run on 3rd down. 4th down at midfield. PICKED by Rose on 4th down. Central wins!

irony?

Albany scores with 59 seconds left, needs 2. Last year, Central missed the tying 2pt conversion with 55 seconds left. This year Albany called for OPI. on the 2pt. Ray Saunders sacks the QB on the second try, Central holds with 59 seconds left!