Suburban all-stars
Sububan Council All-Stars: Yesterday, the Suburban Council All-star team was published. Here are the results:
1) Congratulations, Brad: That's a nice honor to end a terrific regular season campaign. Sometimes I think players can get so good that people often forget about them and just take their contribution for granted. So it's nice to stop and pause and think about how much Brad has done for this team this year. Congratulations.
2) Coach of the year, redux: I've said it before, but the real reason Pugliese got the Coach of the year nod is that he's far and away the most theatrical coach I've ever seen at the high school level. Just ridiculous. If it was 1991 and he was a college coach, I'd nominate him for the "Dick Fick award" on ESPN (email me if you really want to know). Seriously, he's the only high school hoops coach I've ever seen "chest-bump" a player mid-game. Simply abusrd. Congratulations.
3) Why bother with an "expectional senior" team?: If the "regular" all-star team has 11 players and nine of them are seniors, there's no point in creating a 10-man "exceptional senior team." That's absurd - all they did was dump Stevens and Stempsey and pick up Jordan Vickers! Why not just put Vickers on the regular team, or put a team of seniors that's a second team. I would have liked to see Griff on the list, and I bet he would have made a second team of seniors. I was actually disappointed he didn't make the first team. He's had an awesome season.
4) How do they measure sportsmanship?: In most athletic situations I've been involved with in youth, high school, or college, there are only really two types of teams eligible for the sportsmanship award: first, if the best team in the league is genuinly the nicest bunch of guys ever, they can win the award. That's rare, though. Usually, the sportsmanship award goes to the crappy team that plays so unagressively and wimpishly that they almost seem to enjoy losing. That's why I always thought it was a dumb award. Now, I didn't see BHBL play this year, and it's also possible that there is some kind of "points" system based on different categories of stuff. But don't bet your money on it. This looks like a classic "team that doesn't mind losing" award this year. They should just can it.
5) I'll wait till next week to give out my awards: Unlike the Suburban Council, Girmindl's Ghost will wait until after the league tournament to give out its awards. I need to see the whole league season before making my selections. And also, I'll be giving out the much less known awards, the ones no one else bothers with, but all the fans wish existed: best/worst gym, coolest cheers, awful call of the season, sweetest dunk, and of course "best concession stand."
Player of the year: Brad Sheehan (Shaker)Five thoughts:
Coach of the year: David Pugliese (AP)
Sportsmanship: Burnt HillsAll-StarsAlex Zampier (Columbia), Keyshwan Hatches (Colonie), Jordan Stevens (Saratoga), Brian Grastorf (Nisky), Kevin Stempsey (Bethlehem), Kevin Himmelwright (Burnt Hills), Jared Morine (AP), Salih Banks (Shen), Jim Googas (Guilderland), Chuck Lattimer (Colonie)Exeptional Senior TeamBrad Sheehan (Shaker), Alex Zampier (Columbia), Brian Grastorf (Nisky), Keyshawn Hatches (Colonie), Kevin Himmelwright (Burnt Hills), Jared Morine (AP), Silah Banks (Shen), Jim Googas (Guilderland), Jordan Vickers (AP), Chuck Lattimer (Colonie)
1) Congratulations, Brad: That's a nice honor to end a terrific regular season campaign. Sometimes I think players can get so good that people often forget about them and just take their contribution for granted. So it's nice to stop and pause and think about how much Brad has done for this team this year. Congratulations.
2) Coach of the year, redux: I've said it before, but the real reason Pugliese got the Coach of the year nod is that he's far and away the most theatrical coach I've ever seen at the high school level. Just ridiculous. If it was 1991 and he was a college coach, I'd nominate him for the "Dick Fick award" on ESPN (email me if you really want to know). Seriously, he's the only high school hoops coach I've ever seen "chest-bump" a player mid-game. Simply abusrd. Congratulations.
3) Why bother with an "expectional senior" team?: If the "regular" all-star team has 11 players and nine of them are seniors, there's no point in creating a 10-man "exceptional senior team." That's absurd - all they did was dump Stevens and Stempsey and pick up Jordan Vickers! Why not just put Vickers on the regular team, or put a team of seniors that's a second team. I would have liked to see Griff on the list, and I bet he would have made a second team of seniors. I was actually disappointed he didn't make the first team. He's had an awesome season.
4) How do they measure sportsmanship?: In most athletic situations I've been involved with in youth, high school, or college, there are only really two types of teams eligible for the sportsmanship award: first, if the best team in the league is genuinly the nicest bunch of guys ever, they can win the award. That's rare, though. Usually, the sportsmanship award goes to the crappy team that plays so unagressively and wimpishly that they almost seem to enjoy losing. That's why I always thought it was a dumb award. Now, I didn't see BHBL play this year, and it's also possible that there is some kind of "points" system based on different categories of stuff. But don't bet your money on it. This looks like a classic "team that doesn't mind losing" award this year. They should just can it.
5) I'll wait till next week to give out my awards: Unlike the Suburban Council, Girmindl's Ghost will wait until after the league tournament to give out its awards. I need to see the whole league season before making my selections. And also, I'll be giving out the much less known awards, the ones no one else bothers with, but all the fans wish existed: best/worst gym, coolest cheers, awful call of the season, sweetest dunk, and of course "best concession stand."
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on Thursday, February 09, 2006 at 4:41 AM.
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