2011-12 Boys Hockey Season Review/Playoff Preview

With playoffs starting next week, I wanted to get some thoughts out there on every local team. Please be aware that the seeds and playoff pairings I post are projected. The official pairings are not released until Monday morning.


My boys basketball review/preview
Girls Hockey

Boys Hockey -- Division I:

(#3)BFA-St. Albans (16-4) -- Hosts (#11)Rice/(#6)Middlebury winner in quarterfinals

Tough team to predict. The Bobwhites have perhaps the two best players in Vermont in Michael Schreiner and Matt Palmer. They do have the best coach in the state and a long tradition of hockey excellence. When things are clicking for this group, who's going to beat them? The problem is, things haven't clicked as often as fans would like. BFA's goaltending hasn't been consistent and at times its skaters have followed suit. Two of its final four games were losses, including a dumbfounding defeat at the hands of Spaulding (7-12-1). Undefeated Essex has dispatched St. Albans twice and (#2)South Burlington embarrassed BFA on its home ice earlier this month. But despite the blemishes, this is one of the most talented groups you'll find. If they're on, there's no reason to think they won't hoist a trophy at Gutterson Fieldhouse.

Boys Hockey -- Division II:

(#6)Missisquoi Valley Union (11-8-1) -- Hosts (#11)Lyndon Institute in first round

Like the Enosburg boys basketball team, I declared this group dead when Matt Conger's season was to a broken femur. Like the Hornets, MVU proved me wrong by showing some signs of life but it's safe to say this group needs its star player badly. The team has come a long way but still, at times, shows problems with composure. Still, the seed doesn't reflect the talent. When MVU isn't fighting referees or opponents and is focused on the game, it might be the most talented squad in Division II (even with Conger on crutches). MVU barely lost to (#1)Northfield in overtime this week and looked fantastic in a 3-1 victory over (#2)U-32 earlier this month. Nobody is excited to face MVU in the postseason.

(#8)Milton (7-12-1) -- Hosts (#9)Hartford in first round

I didn't see a ton of Milton this season, but had a lot of fun when I did. Probably because the Yellowjackets are 2-0 in games I've written. Milton plays good, hard hockey. They're a fun team for me to cover since kids from other local high schools take up roster space. It took this group a while to get going (they went 0-5 in January before winning on the 28th) but have strung together some nice play. The bad news for Milton: it's 0-3 against the top three teams in D-II and was outscored 18-5 in those contests. It will take some luck for Milton to advance very far, but it's not out of the question.

***Update (2-27-12)*** Had the right seeds but the wrong opponents for Division II. (#6)MVU faces (#12)Woodstock, a team which finished just 2-17-1. The unsettling news: that one tie came in its only meeting with MVU. (#8)Milton goes against (#9)Mt. Mansfield, which not only makes for an easier trip but also gives the Yellowjackets an opponent it split with in the regular season as opposed to a Hartford team it lost to in its only matchup.

Kaufmann's Korner All County Boys Hockey Team:

A reminder from the fall, this is a little different than other all-star teams for a few reasons: First of all, nobody really cares. Secondly, these aren't the 12 best players I've covered this winter, they're the best teams I could send out to represent Franklin County in a state-wide tournament. It's close to an all-star team, but more fun to create. Finally, when I say Franklin County, I'm taking the geographical liberty of including Milton because this is my blog and I can do whatever I want.

G- Brandon Rhoades (Milton) 

D- Taylor Raftery (BFA)

D- Caleb Lothain (MVU)

F- Matt Conger (MVU)

F- Michael Schreiner (BFA)

F- Matt Palmer (BFA)

Second Team:

G- Brian Fortin (MVU) 

D- Ryan Lothian (MVU)

D- Ian Hengemuhle (BFA)

F- Seth Amstein (Milton)

F- Jack Raleigh (MVU)

F-  Cole Tessier (MVU)

2011-12 Boys Basketball Season Review/Playoff Preview

With playoffs starting next week, I wanted to get some thoughts out there on every local team. Please be aware that the seeds and playoff pairings I post are projected. The official pairings are not released until Monday morning.

My boys hockey review/preview
Girls Hockey

Boys Basketball -- Division I:

(#6)BFA-St. Albans (11-9) -- host (#11)Essex in first round: 

Same old same for the Bobwhites. Very good season, entering the playoffs with the nagging feeling that it would be better off in the playoffs with a slightly lower seed after playing a Metro schedule. Taking control of the Lake year in and year out is admirable but does St. Albans no favors come March. BFA has been in the top 10 each year for the last six years and has had a home game four of those years. In that span, no Bobwhite team has made it out of the second round. 

#4 2011 (lost in 2nd round)

#5 2010 (lost in 2nd round)

#9 2009 (lost in 1st round)

#9 2008 (lost in 1st round)

#8 2007 (lost in 1st round)

#4 2006 (lost in 1st round)

Of BFA's 13 games against Division I opponents this season, only six were against teams which finished with winning records. This Bobwhite squad is talented, fit and potentially dangerous. It took Mt. Mansfield, the top team in the state, to the final seconds on the road before losing by three. There isn't a team St. Albans can't beat when it plays its best. But I can't help thinking BFA would be more confident  right now as an eight or nine seed with fewer games against Milton and Montpelier and more against CVU and Rice. I love the fire of these kids and could see them playing in Patrick Gym in a couple of weeks following a great run. Unfortunately, I could also see them being upset in the first round by the struggling Hornets.

(#7)Missisquoi Valley Union (11-9) -- host (#10)Burlington in first round:

Similar to BFA in that it has a much higher seed because of its Lake schedule than it would if it played Metro. But unlike the Bobwhites, MVU doesn't belong in the Metro. In fact, the Thunderbirds barely belong in Division I and were just moved up this year after winning the Division II title last year. Missisquoi may be the top seed in its first round matchup but will have to bust its butt for any victory from here on out. The T-Birds finished just 3-4 against Division I opponents and didn't beat a D-I team which finished .500 or better.

That being said, I'm not willing to bet against MVU. The team already exceeded my expectations by playing as well as it did this season. Let's remember, not only was this MVU's first year in Division I, but it was playing without five of its top six players from last year's D-II title team! To win from this point forward, Matt St. Amour will need to be on his game each night and everyone else will have to play to full potential. There isn't a team in the forecast that Missisquoi can beat if St. Amour is having an off-night or if everyone else is at 80%. Just keep in mind, MVU always has a shot at the start of any game because it always has the best player on the court. It will take inspired play for these guys to move beyond the second round (especially since a round two matchup will likely be against Rice), but it's not impossible.

Boys Basketball -- Division II

(#11)Milton (9-11) -- at (#6)Burr&Burton in first round:

Simply put, Milton underachieved this season. 9-11 is nowhere near what this team is capable of, even if it does play a tougher schedule than many D-II teams. Derryk O'Grady is one of the best pure shooters in the state. Jamie Holbrook, on his way to Southern Connecticut on a football scholarship, is a strong a post player as you'll find. The Yellowjackets' have more than enough suitable role players to be a Division II contender. Caleb Harris is a plenty capable point guard, Nik Couture is a tremendous athlete, the list goes on. 

Has a high school basketball team ever sandbagged 90% of a regular season? I'm thinking we may have the first case. I can see this Milton team beating anyone on a good day, even almighty Vergennes. After losing to MVU two weeks ago, Milton coach Jim O'Grady told me his team was going to shock somebody in the tournament. What he didn't tell me was that Milton wasn't even going to wait until the tournament. In its next game, Milton knocked off a BFA-St. Albans team I would have bet hundreds of dollars in favor of. 

O'Grady (the player) missed a few games with a bad ankle injury and I'm not sure if he's 100%. If he is at full strength, Milton is going to make a run fueled at some point by nine straight from the junior guard. But even if he's not 100%, O'Grady (the coach) was on to something when he said his squad would upset some higher seeds.

Boys Basketball -- Division III

(#1)Enosburg (18-2) -- hosts (#16)Stowe in first round:

I saw that Will Gleason went down with a broken wrist on January 14th. In the coming days I stated to multiple people that Enosburg's season was done. Most of the money I've made covering games since then has gone into gum and mints while I try desperately to get the taste of my foot out of my mouth. Since then, the Hornets' have gone 11-1 and outscored its opponents by 137 points. Enosburg lost once to D-I Missisquoi, it also beat MVU twice. Enosburg lost to Winooski in just its third game without Gleason, it wrapped up the season by beating the Spartans on the road. Nobody has beaten Enosburg on the road this season, good luck facing them in Barre. I'm not saying the Hornets are a lock to win the title, but I don't see anyone without a great big man beating them. These guys know how to blow opponents out (six wins of 20+points) and they know how to win close games (five wins by less than five points). Best of all, this group is fun to watch. They defend --see Wyatt Lockdown Larose on my all-county team-- and they transition into a beautiful fast break. It's going to be an interesting D-III tournament. Like Fairfax, Enosburg hasn't seen teams #2-5 so we can't be totally sure what to expect, but I do expect some entertaining basketball.

***Update 2-27-12*** Enosburg ended up with a bye in the first round with no 16th team eligible for the postseason. It might be a good thing for the Hornets to have more time to prepare for its quarterfinal game. Should (#8)Winooski beat (#9)Peoples, Enosburg will be facing a Spartan team which was the only outside of Division I to beat it all season. The Hornets' games with Winooski this year were decided by just three and seven points.

(#6)BFA-Fairfax (12-8) -- hosts (#11)Windsor in first round

(#13)Richford (4-16) -- at (#4)Randolph in first round

I'm lumping Fairfax and Richford together for the lazy reason of only having seen each a few times and neither in the last month. Also, I don't know of anyone from either school who reads my blog, so this could just be the section that gets in the way while people are scrolling to the bottom.

While I'm not as familiar with these two as the rest, I do know that neither should be taken lightly in the postseason tournament. Richford has improved greatly on years past and has enough good athletes to be competitive night in and night out. Its youth suggests the Rockets' will only be stronger next year and the Richford boys have made it clear that they no longer intend to be the bookend on the bottom of the standings.

Fairfax is always well coached and dangerous. Kris Wehner is always stuck in fifth gear and is often the best player on the floor. BFA loses some ground in the standings because of its tough schedule (which included a visit from D-I Missisquoi this season) but is built to thump D-III opponents. THE BULLETS ARE 10-0 THIS SEASON AGAINST DIVISION III TEAMS FROM PLACES THAT DON'T RHYME WITH SCHMENOSBURG! Sorry to go all caps on you, but that's a huge statistic. 10-2 against its own division is impressive (though it's worth noting that Enosburg is the only D-III team in the top 5 that BFA played). Equally impressive is the fact that Fairfax improved greatly on a 30 point loss to Enosburg early this season and fell by just two when they squared off again in February. Nobody in the Division III tournament is safe against BFA.

Kaufmann's Korner All County Boys Basketball Team:

A reminder from the fall, this is a little different than other all-star teams for a few reasons: First of all, nobody really cares. Secondly, these aren't the 10 best players I've covered this winter, they're the best teams I could send out to represent Franklin County in a state-wide tournament. It's close to an all-star team, but more fun to create. Finally, when I say Franklin County, I'm taking the geographical liberty of including Milton because this is my blog and I can do whatever I want.

First Team:

G- Matt St. Amour (MVU)

G- Wyatt Larose (Enosburg)

F- Will Gleason (Enosburg)

F- Nik Couture (Milton)

F- Ben Thieken (BFA-St. Albans)

Second Team:

G- Brett McCallister (Richford)

G- Branden Gleason (Enosburg)

G/F- Kris Wehner (BFA-Fairfax)

F- Darren Callan (BFA-St. Albans)

F- Jamie Holbrook (Milton)

*Of the four all-county teams I did this winter, I found boys basketball to be the hardest. I ended up leaning toward defense over offense. Good luck to anyone without a 6'5" center who wants to score on these lineups. In making these teams, I left off three of the best 3-point shooters in northern Vermont (Derryk O'Grady, Dylan Callan and Dallas Desroches...the larger than life triple D's!!!). 

Winners In My Blog

MVU's freshman point guard Meghan Leadbeater is already a terrific ball handler and will soon be one of the best point guards in the county. Though her team sits at 0-18, it sets the standard for sportsmanship and attitude.

I really didn't want to go to a basketball game tonight. Really. I spent 8 hours today working alone, removing flooring and hauling old carpet, trash and even a couch down two flights of stairs. I didn't get enough sleep last night and by the time I drove home through the start of a nasty blizzard I really wanted to call it a day.

I was hoping MVU's girls basketball game against Vergennes was going to be cancelled. Nothing against the Lady Thunderbirds, but I just wasn't feeling it tonight. And truthfully, the game should have been cancelled. The roads were as bad as I've seen in a long time -- my dad and I saw 3 cars off the road on the 10 mile stretch of highway from MVU to our house. But the game was played, and I showed up to do the play-by-play for public access TV and write up the newspaper article.

Another reason for my lack of desire to cover the game tonight was the pessimism associated with Missisquoi girls hoops lately. MVU went in 0-17 and though Vergennes is near the bottom of Division II, the odds were still against my alma mater. MVU hasn't had many close games this season and its first meeting with the Commodores was a 15-point loss last month.

The ray of hope was the quiet knowledge that tonight was realistically MVU's last chance to win a game this season. It closes with games against Middlebury and South Burlington and just isn't anywhere near the talent level of those two teams. If these girls were going to avoid the dreaded goose egg, tonight was the final opportunity.

Things got off to a good start with the JV game. MVU pulled out a close win and the final few minutes of that game was when I began to really believe the varsity squad was about to win its first. Rather than sit in the locker room stressing about a potential winless season, MVU stood in the gym and enthusiastically cheered on its JV team. Nobody was a bigger fan in that fourth quarter. The varsity girls seemed genuinely pumped up. When I actually saw the Vergennes varsity girls warming up across from the amped Missisquoi squad, I told my dad that MVU was going to win tonight.

The T-Birds' played fairly well by its standards early, but still showed the lack of basketball IQ which has largely caused its poor record. The Commodore's best player was clearly its 6'0" center, Hannah Curler. Despite not having a player taller than 5'5", Missisquoi tried to shoot over Curler and Chelsea Grant (5'9") unsuccessfully. MVU led 10-9 after the first but couldn't stop fouling late in the second and trailed 18-16 at the half after Vergennes sunk eight straight free throws.

The Thunderbirds couldn't quite get on a run in the second half despite playing well, but I couldn't have had more fun calling the game. I played the role of MVU defender and referee critic with bias that would make Tommy Heinsohn blush (the referees were bad, but nobody's sending the best in the business to do 0-18 vs. 4-13).

These Missisquoi girls played with heart that made every T-Bird supporter proud. They aren't very good at basketball, so what? They don't whine about calls. They don't get frustrated or play dirty. They never, ever stop playing hard. They support eachother. They're kind to opponents. They laugh. They have fun. They're winners in my book.

Nobody would have blamed Missisquoi for acting like, well, 17 year olds tonight. Their last shot at a win slipped away painfully (they lost by 10 points). I wish I could do a better job expressing how much I admire this group. It's not easy to learn to lose with class. I played on many losing teams and never got the hang of it. Not being able to deal with frustration has set my life back numerous times but when these girls are done with high school sports, they're going to still be admirable and successful women.

And the basketball dream isn't over for most of these girls. They have some talented underclassmen who could form a decent Division II squad in 2013. I really see potential in next year's possible starting lineup (C-Laura Flint, F-Megan Rowell, F- Kirstin Ward, G-Chelsea Boudreau, G-Meghan Leadbeater). Flint is as tough an athlete as you'll meet. Rowell is an exceptional all-around athlete who will be dangerous given more basketball experience. Ward is capable of taking over the game for periods at both ends of the floor. Boudreau can really shoot, she'll have a 20-point game next year. Leadbeater, just a freshman, is a terrific ball handler and will be a great point guard once she develops a 15-footer. It's a shame Kelli Patterson didn't return for her sophomore season, but nobody can blame her for wanting to focus on soccer.

It will hurt the T-Birds next year to be without Christina Walsh and Serena Reynolds, two girls whose heart and never-say-die attitude have kept this team away from an ugly meltdown. 

When I post my all-county basketball teams next week, there won't be an MVU girl on the list. Just know that if I were making an all-county character team, other schools would be battling for bench time.

And next February I won't be going to cover an 0-17 T-Bird team, I guarantee it.

MVU Boys Hit Stride

Missisquoi freshman Jack Raleigh celebrates after scoring a second goal less than five minutes into Wednesday's 3-1 win against (#2) U-32. Photo courtesy of Shawn Corrow -- www.coldhollowphoto.com)

I don't know if anything tops a great basketball game for me. No equipment and the close proximity to the athletes makes the players seem so much more human and connects fans better than any other sport. The swing in a basketball game takes time, so you watch one team slowly climb the ladder and the other helplessly fall apart. But there's a different experience, one almost as good, in a great soccer or hockey game. Sometimes the team being beaten down puts together one nice play and just like that, it's a whole new ballgame. In basketball, it takes a few minutes for things to change. But in hockey, a game or even a season can turn in eight seconds.

Things haven't gone terribly smoothly for MVU's boys hockey team this season. It lost senior captain Matt Conger  to a broken femur. It's had games marred by penalties and lost to teams it should have beaten. After the Thunderbirds were shutout by Burr & Burton last week, the #2 team in Division II, U-32, was in a position to tip MVU's season to a terrible place tonight.

The Raiders won tonight's opening face-off and set up in its own zone to try making an early statement against a team I'm sure it expected to trounce. Missisquoi freshman Jack Raleigh didn't feel like waiting for the puck to come to his team; he blasted in and swiped the puck. U-32 never saw it coming. Raleigh moved in unopposed and put the Raiders in a 1-0 hole just eight seconds in.

Those who have seen MVU play a lot this season know that despite entering tonight just 9-7, the T-Birds have the firepower to knock off anyone. Tonight, before the Raider coaches had picked out a spot to stand on the bench, U-32 was realizing the same thing.

Just to prove it was no fluke, Missisquoi made sure anyone who hadn't been paying attention got a second chance to see how dangerous it can be. Four minutes and ten seconds after Raleigh's goal, Caleb Lothian won the puck behind his own net and skated end-to-end, blowing past five Raiders as he's done many times this year. By the time he got in front of the U-32 goal, everyone in the rink assumed he was going to fire a shot. Lothian must have realized this too, because he dished the puck to his right, where Raleigh kicked it to his stick and beat the shocked goaltender for the second time in the first five minutes.

I've heard it said this season that Lothian keeps the puck on his stick too long and doesn't give up the puck when he should. Anyone who thought that should have been paying close attention tonight.

With U-32 gaining some momentum by the third, Lothian again carried the puck end-to-end. He kept the puck on his stick as though it had a velcro attachment and moved down the right side in front of the Raider goal. Again, U-32 assumed Lothian was going to fire a shot and totally ignored Dylan Lafountain skating to the front of the net with enough free room around him to make snow angels. Lothian didn't miss him. Lafountain had no trouble making it a 3-0 game given a few feet of free space.

Yes, Lothian makes a habit of bringing the puck from one goal line to the other himself. He doesn't lose the puck on these runs any more than if MVU tried to pass the puck ahead, and he always draws multiple defensemen. When he finishes these trips with a pass instead of a shot, Missisquoi is nearly unstoppable. I don't know if there are many better all-around hockey players in Vermont than Lothian right now

While Raleigh and Lothian were the stars of the show tonight, it was the best team hockey I've seen the Thunderbirds play this season. Brian Fortin had to make some tough stops in goal against a team averaging 5.5 goals a game and he made almost every one, barely losing the shutout late in the third. It had to frustrate U-32 to see that he was catching or covering up every single thing they threw at him. Ryan Lothian had a beautiful defensive game, often ruining Raider chances long before they could get near Fortin. 

The best thing I saw from MVU tonight was its composure. There have been times this season when contractors have been called to provide estimates for a second story on the T-Bird penalty box. There have been games when Missisquoi focused so much on the refs or other team that it lost the focus on winning. I didn't see a hint of attitude tonight. The few penalties MVU took came in the flow of play and nobody argued about calls or non-calls. As the game went on, U-32 became frustrated and took a few cheap shots; Missisquoi responded by skating away and letting the referees take care of things. When a few Raider players tried to start some post-game shoving, the Thunderbirds just backed away, content with the victory.

Regardless of where MVU ends up in the playoff bracket, I'm confident no opponent wants to face the Thunderbird team I just watched. If Missisquoi stays focused on goals and has the maturity to ignore dirty play, gets into position to fire wide open shots when Lothian draws 3 defensemen after a coast-to-coast trip, has a brick wall and rebound-prevention expert in goal and avoids any more unnecessary suspensions among its best players, my money is on the Thunderbirds to hoist a trophy at Gutterson Fieldhouse in a month.

Most Valuable Players

Matt Conger (red pants) makes a fine cheerleader, but teammates like Joey Hartmann (blue jacket) wish he were on the ice instead of the bench.

It started as kind of a joke among sports reporters and fans, but as this past NFL season wore on it began to sound more and more correct. Who was the 2011 NFL MVP? Which player had more of an impact on the success (or failure) of his team than any other? Wasn't it really Peyton Manning? Was any team's season affected by one player more than this year's Indianapolis Colts?

Peyton Manning and Will Gleason (below, white shirt) both
have younger brothers putting up impressive performances
while they recover from injuries.

Sadly, we've got a pair of almost-Peyton Mannings this winter in Franklin County. I say almost not because Will Gleason and Matt Conger aren't as good as Manning -- they definitely are (plus they don't do bad commercials and play for the Patriots biggest rival!). I say almost because the captain-less Enosburg basketball and MVU hockey teams aren't nearly as bad as the Peyton-less Colts.

Though they may not be Colts bad, Enosburg and MVU are definitely hurting without their best players. Gleason broke his wrist on a near dunk with a bad landing and is holding out hope that he might be back for playoffs. Conger broke his femur, so he's holding out hope that he might be able to play some baseball this spring.

Both teams had legit title hopes at the start of the season. Both teams could still win a title, but are far from favorites now. Both teams have other good players and leaders but Gleason and Conger are irreplaceable in many key ways. The two are leaders with incredibly great attitudes, both seniors with valuable experience. It really is a lot like the Colts losing Peyton. Enosburg and MVU may have better supporting casts, but there's no Andrew Luck at the end of the rainbow if they don't come through.

Both teams are struggling a little as they try to adapt and I think they'll improve over the coming weeks. Enosburg recently eked out a win over Milton when the Yellowjackets missed a game-tying free throw with 2 seconds left and fell to a good Winooski team. 

MVU was a train wreck in its loss against Milton last night. I wrote a pretty scathing article about how disgusted I was by the Thunderbirds for tomorrow's Messenger. Last night wasn't so much about talent as it was about attitude for MVU. Missisquoi was so obsessed with the officials that it totally forgot about playing its brand of hockey. The swearing and cheap shots taking place in the third period were embarrassing.

With Conger playing, things would have been different last night. Matt is as calm and quiet as they come and he loves to play the game. He doesn't like bad refs any better than the next guy, 

but he would stick it to them by scoring a goal in spite of them as opposed to swearing at them from the penalty box. I like the kids I know on MVU, they're great kids. But last night I didn't see a single T-Bird who was more concerned with scoring a goal than with all the other crap going on. If Matt had been out there, I know I would have seen at least one. If there was someone on that team who was more disgusted with his teammates than the refs, he didn't speak up on the bench. 

Enosburg has some excellent players behind Gleason. Will's brother Branden is on his way to being as great as him but isn't quite there yet. Derek Blouin and Dallas Desroches can hit open threes better than anyone else in the county and Wyatt Larose is a rock defensively. The problem the Hornets have without Will is creation. Will is the only one of those players who can create his own shot consistently (and create shots for everyone else). Without Will, the other players don't have as many quality shots to knock down. When things were going badly, Will could singlehandedly take over the game for a few possessions and get momentum back. Without him, Enosburg is going to have some trouble stopping a bleed.

MVU also has some great players. Cole Tessier, Donnie Mueller and Caleb Lothian are probably as skilled as Conger but none has his calm demeanor. Everyone on that roster is more likely to be taken out of a game mentally than Matt is. It almost seemed to me like some T-Bird skaters are trying to do too much by themselves to make up for the void left by Conger -- and that's almost impossible to do in hockey.

I really like Matt and Will. Both are supporting their teams (and other teams at their schools, for that matter) just as hard as they can even though both are seniors who may never get to wear the jersey again. Both are genuine kids who don't act like "star" athletes. It broke my heart when I got the news about each injury. Unlike Peyton Manning, neither of these guys is being paid millions of dollars to wear a cast, they just love what they do. I hope each team finds its way and I hope every kid on each roster thanks Matt and Will every single day for their contributions in the face of injuries. 

And who knows, maybe they'll get their own "This is Sportscenter" commercial. But just in case that doesn't happen, I hope they both know they're appreciated, and sorely missed.

...And The Horse You Rode In On

I'll preface this by saying that I'm being a jerk. For tonight, I'm ignoring the mass -- those people who appreciate the local sports coverage the Messenger provides. For tonight, I'm focusing only on the people who have so many gripes and complaints that it's become impossible to keep them inside, the people who wouldn't know appreciation if it scored a first-period hat trick and who wouldn't be able to sleep at night if they hadn't told at least one person how much they sucked that day.

I'm being a jerk. The kind of jerk my father warned me about when I started writing a sports blog. He told me no matter how many nice things I wrote, the only thing I'd ever hear was complaints about anything negative I published. 

"Come on dad! I'm going to write a blog on my own time for no money just so these kids can get even more 'real athlete' treatment. If I spend 800 words talking about how impressed I was with a team they aren't going to only focus on the 50 words I use to talk about their room for improvement."

Dad -1. Ben - 0.

I generally don't mind hearing more criticism than praise. I'm not one of the 1,000 best writers in America and there's plenty I could be doing better.

But this winter has put me over the edge. We hired a new writer for sports at the Messenger. She's incredibly bright and was excited to cover her classmates' games. I found out just a few weeks into the season that players on both varsity basketball teams at HER OWN SCHOOL were making fun of her writing. The very kids we go out of our way to never say anything negative about in print were saying nasty things about one of our writers and one of their classmates. 

Where the hell do these athletes get off making fun of the free press they get? This wasn't criticism, which is totally acceptable. This was petty, crude harassment. So what if there was a mistake about someone's point total? For those who find it necessary to belittle their peers, whether through insecurity or jealousy, we can even the playing field by listing their missed shots, turnovers and rebounds they failed to grab.

The worst offense to date was the revelation of complaints about an apparent lack of MVU girls hockey coverage. Yes, the same MVU team I wrote a glowing piece about a week ago. The one we plastered all over the paper like presidential assassins when it upset BFA. 

The complaint du jour was that we didn't have anything in the Monday edition of the paper about MVU knocking off Essex on the road. The go-to complaint, that we only care about BFA sports, came out early. When some supporters came to our aid and brought up the wild notion that we might not have had something in before deadline, they were dismissed ("It was a Saturday afternoon game, they had plenty of time to meet a deadline!").

It didn't occur to anyone to ask the coach, either (in this instance, the coaches had nothing to do with it, MVU's girls hockey coaches are probably the best in the county at providing us with game info). We generally get the angry phone call when a game isn't covered. Just understand, it's the coach's responsibility to call in a game if we aren't there. If you want more games in the paper, please speak with the team's coach before you bitch to us. 

As an MVU hater (and alumnus, go class of '07!) I couldn't have been happier that we didn't have anything on the game. Then I found out my idiot father, the sports editor, actually did have someone at the game. The Essex newspaper covered the game for us since we do their games in Franklin County. Their small, weekly paper shockingly doesn't have a weekend sports desk, so the coverage had to wait until Tuesday's paper. And to think, I was so close to my goal of eliminating MVU coverage altogether, dammit!

This winter, there are 445 local varsity games scheduled in the span of about 80 days. Take out Sundays with no games, and that's about six games per day. Saturday, there were 11 local varsity games. Of the five hockey games, we elected to cover one. Yep, the aforementioned T-Bird girls.

The options Monday morning for MVU were to scramble and put together A) a few paragraphs with the score, goals and saves, and no photo in Monday's paper, or B) two articles, including a feature on Katie Campbell reaching the remarkable 100-point mark midway through her junior season, and two color photos from the game a whopping 24 hours later. Apparently, Option B was the wrong choice.

I love the BFA/MVU complaints. All year long I get "You guys only care about BFA!" in the left ear and "How come all you cover is MVU?" in the right. I don't even have an ear left for the Enosburg and Fairfax parents (I say parents because the kids are generally happy with what they get, but mommy and daddy think they have John LeClair Jr. in the house and we aren't doing enough to recognize their unbelievable accomplishments). I hope the next person who says "The Messenger only cares about St. Albans" or "Everything is about MVU" finds themselves in front of a Mikaela Flanagan slapshot very soon.

The only folks who should be complaining don't. We often end up covering Richford a little less than our other schools. Unfortunately Richford usually plays fewer games against other Franklin County schools and it's furthest away from most of our staff. But the main thing we hear when we go to Richford is "My kid really loved having his picture in the paper, thank you."

Most kids do like having their picture in the newspaper. And you know what? We like being able to put local athetes in the Messenger. We do as good a job of that as anyone around. We've had people actually complain about only having one or two large, color photos during a season. Take that complaint to the athletes at Burlington, Rutland or CVU and see what kind of reaction you get.

So dad was right. One of the first blogs I did was a piece about a great girls soccer game. I talked about the great things both teams had done then mentioned at the end that I wished one team spent less time focusing on the refs. I was nearly run out of town. All I heard for a month was that I was an ass and why would I even bother writing about kids I "hated". I wrote another piece on a physical game between BFA and MVU and heard a lot more about that piece than the one I wrote about their great rematch. 

I don't expect a pat on the back for the work I do, though I do appreciate the gratitude I often get. What I do expect is our readers to recognize that we go above and beyond what most sports departments do for high school athletes. The big complaint is that you thought we missed one regular season hockey game?!? Call me when we miss a local team winning a state championship. I do mean call me, or e-mail me or send something personal. That's a whole lot more likely to get you an answer to your question about coverage than posting a facebook status about what a shitty job the Messenger does. 

My dumbass sports editor only spends 100+ hours devising a schedule as fair as he can make it (a fair man would spend at least 500!), and is always happy to explain why a game was or was not covered. While you're concerned with your particular team's 20 games or your school's 40 or 80, he is trying to balance coverage of 445 games. If you wonder why there was no story on a game, or no writer/photographer there, send an email to sports@samessenger.com and you'll find out why. Before complaining, find out why you're complaining.

And by the way, while we made sure to get someone to that MVU hockey game in Essex, we didn't get anyone to BFA's home hockey game that night for the first time this year. So let's hear it Comet hockey fans.

DIAL #11 FOR (MIS)INFORMATION

MVU's Matt St Amour selfishly hogs the ball away from an Enosburg player who would have preferred an uncontested lay-up

I’ve been covering high school sports in Vermont for almost eight years. Granted, I’m not exactly a seasoned veteran but after covering hundreds of games and playing in a few hundred more, there aren’t many firsts left for me.

But this afternoon I witnessed a first, and hopefully a last. Nobody expects high school sports fans to be the most rational thinkers. However, I was more disgusted than surprised during the second half of MVU’s 67-39 win at Enosburg when the Hornet student section began chanting “Ballhog! Ballhog!” every time Missisquoi’s Matt St. Amour touched the ball.

I call this a first not because I’ve never heard the “Ballhog” chant before, I have. I’m just quite certain I’ve never heard it shouted at a team’s assist leader. 

Yes, St. Amour leads the Thunderbirds in scoring, by a lot. But he also has almost half of his team’s total assists this year (MVU is averaging 7.8 assists per game, St. Amour is averaging 3.7). He led his team in assists today.

St. Amour might be the best passer I’ve ever seen. It’s tough to tell. Players like BFA’s Ben Cote come to mind as great distributors. But how do we compare St. Amour to anyone when it comes to passing? Most other great passers are pure point guards, St. Amour is not. Most great passers don’t average north of 15 rebounds a game, St. Amour does. 

That’s right, 15+ rebounds a game! Today he collected 19. Maybe the Enosburg fans were just mistaken in their word choice, because he certainly was a rebound-hog today. I guess anyone would look like a ball hog when he pulls down 19 boards. How rude of him to not let anyone else have some rebounds!

I’ll give the Enosburg students this, St. Amour is a scorer. The junior reached 1,000 career points before the new year. He’s already posted a high of 43 this year and smart money says he’ll top that. 

The Hornets gave St. Amour more room to work today than any opponent I’ve seen this season. They lost by 28. 

More room to work doesn’t mean single coverage, he was still doubled quite a bit. It just means Enosburg wasn’t willing to send an athlete to the hospital to try to win a game.

What made the “Ballhog!” chant so ridiculous today was the fact that St. Amour scored just 22 points, one of his lowest season totals. He used the extra space to pick up six assists and at least another six passes that helped set up a basket. His nicest pass of the day was a beauty to the low post right in front of a group of Enosburg students chanting “Ballhog!” St. Amour even looked toward the student section after that pass and flicked his jersey, which was the classy thing to do as opposed to yelling “SHUT THE &^*% UP!” (which is the route I would have chosen). 

If MVU coach Jim Bose made any decision other than to run the ball through St. Amour on every single possession, he’d be run out of town. St. Amour’s supporting cast is improving (St. Amour played well in MVU’s two losses to Enosburg as well, today’s win was the first time the rest of the team played this well), but you don’t waste a talent like St. Amour.

I’ve seen plenty of great high school basketball players; I had the misfortune of usually playing against Cote and Burlington’s Tyrone Conley, but I still found time to watch while they were lighting me up. BFA’s Nick Swim, Enosburg’s Jade Desroches and Fairfax’s Seth Rebeor also come to mind right away. Those players might all have been as good as St. Amour (Conley might have been better, but I may be biased because he scored roughly 12,351 points against my teams from 5th-12th grade), but none of them had the “don’t look down" effect that St. Amour does. 

When I’m covering a game, if I need to adjust my camera or send a text message or make a note I just do it. Except when St. Amour has the ball in his hands. It seems like every single game he does something I’ve never seen before. Whatever I need to do can wait until St. Amour gives up the ball because I don't want to miss whatever's happening next.

Of course, sometimes he does that without the ball in his hands. St. Amour had one block today that would have made Dikembe Mutumbo jealous. Well, I say one, I mean one in each half.

In the second half today, St. Amour went to the bench to get a towel so he could clean up some sweat he’d left on the ground after drawing a foul. It must have been a nice break for the Enosburg defenders since he’d been using them to mop the floor most of the night. 

I’ve never seen a player so universally hated simply because he’s good. Enosburg’s aren’t the only fans who call him a ball hog. It seems like fans of opponents are grasping for anything because it would seem wrong to chant about what a well rounded basketball player (and incredibly nice person) St. Amour is. 

I think it goes without saying that I’ll be catching as much St. Amour as I can. To this point in the season, Enosburg had been the best team I’d seen. The Hornets beat MVU 2 out of 3 chances I have no doubt they could make it 3 of 4 if given another shot. I fully expect to watch the Hornets play for a Division III title in Barre this spring, which makes today’s performance all the more impressive for MVU.

And if I have to settle for watching a ball hog every time I watch the Thunderbirds, I think I’ll be ok with that. As long as I don't have to look down.