Bridge hopping
-
- November
- 10
Barring some golf-related injury, I’ll be heading over the bridge this afternoon for another unexpected film session at Nyack.
The Indians face Section 9’s Cornwall on Friday in the state quarterfinals, and coach John Castellano is graciously allowing me to sit in the locker room and watch the film, like he did with Ossining last Monday.
And like last Monday, I’ll have a few extra Dunkin Donuts coffees in-hand, which is a sort of peace offering to the Indians coaches after picking them to lose once again. Unfortunately for you Nyack bloggers, Castellano won’t dump it on my head like you hope/think he will.
It’s sad that I’ve gotten this rap for disliking Nyack. It’s completely false, but I understand where it comes from; people reading too much into every word I write, or don’t write. When I predict a team to win and lose, it’s viewed as if I hate one team and am in love with the other. I’ve picked against Nyack the last two weeks, therefore I want the Indians to lose and lose badly. Please, give me a break.
Then there are those who believe that my not reporting on the Nyack-Ossining game was a reflection of my alleged disdain for Nyack. In reality, I was assigned by my editors to cover New Rochelle-Carmel and, since I need time to interview, do reporting and write my story, the schedule didn’t allow me to cover Nyack-Ossining. I was also reporting on the Tuckahoe-Haldane game right after. I would have loved to cover Nyack-Ossining, which I billed as the biggest game of the weekend. But I don’t make every decision.
Think whatever you want about my feelings towards Nyack because I honestly don’t care. The only thing I do pay attention to comes from 10960, which I tell people is “my best friend who I’ve never met.” He calls me “Westchester biased” from time to time. As a professional journalist, I take that to heart, the same way Troy Aikman takes being called biased towards the Cowboys or Dick Vitale to Duke. In the preseason, I believed Nyack was the fourth or fifth best team in Class A, and was No. 3 when the playoff began. Honestly, I don’t regret or change those rankings one bit (OK, maybe the John Jay ranking). Nyack’s improvement from the preseason to now was dramatic. The Indians were the third-best team a month ago but, through great coaching and growing confidence, passed Somers and Ossining developed into the No. 1 team. 10960 might dispute that but I’m sticking to it.
(For the record: I don’t have any problem with 10960. I firmly believe he’s the best thing that ever happened to this blog and would love to buy him dinner some time).
All the other stuff is nonsense, which I’ve learned to ignore. I have a great working relationship Castellano and his staff. They may not like what I write sometimes, but they understand and respect that I have a job to do. It’s that way with every coach. And I’ve never had a Nyack player “no comment” me because I picked them to lose. The fact that anybody actually thinks a player would do that is ignorant, and sort of an insult to the players. Give them a little more credit than that.
Anyway, enough with this petty stuff generated by a handful of bloggers. I take a lot of pride in my writing and reporting and, unfortunately, what most people care about are my rankings and score predictions. That’s fine. Just know that I don’t have an evil bone in my body and am only sensitive when it comes to family, friends, small puppies and the occasional sad movie.
Before you viciously attack me, or eachother, on this blog, just repeat these words:
It’s only high school football.
This entry was posted
on Monday, November 10th, 2008 at 6:03 am by Kevin Devaney Jr..
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Josh Thomson has done some of everything since joining The Journal News in March 2003. He began working for the Gannett weeklies during the winter of 2002 as a freelance writer. He joined the daily staff soon after and has since covered various high school and pro sports. Away from sportswriting, Josh lives in Westchester and spends his free time either with his wife, Sarah, or expertly managing his various championship-winning fantasy sports teams. He's visited 21 major-league baseball stadiums and insists that Fenway Park and Wrigley Field are the best by far. Josh graduated from Carmel High School in 1998, then went to Boston University, where, in 2002, he received a degree in communications with a minor in history.
Kevin..well said. I was one of the big guys next to you on the sideline during the last Nyack/Ossining Drive. We joked with you, but in reality we respect what you do and enjoy reading your articles, blog, etc.. Keep up the good work.
Go Nyack!
Devaney, you have ZERO need to explain yourself. You are open for criticism because you take a stance. You are a professional and you have enriched football in section one with your reporting and knowledge. I graduated 17 years ago and I wish section 1 had the coverage thats going on now.Mike Lupica wont even have a comment column for posters at the bottom of his articles on the web because hes a hack. He writes silliness for effect. You have not once done this, and for that you should be applauded.There is little doubt in my mind you are not long for the journalnews and within two years you will be with the Ian Oconnors and Adrian Wojarnoskis of the world. Like Adrian and O’connor and Wojo did with Lincoln and St. Anthonys, you should do a book on Cimmino and the MV squad.It would do well just by your readers from the jnews.
Forgive my spelling on the Adrian guy
Kevin,
All of the regular bloggers are very appreciative of what you do for high school football in Section 1. I hope you really don’t worry about some of the things that are said.
What fun would it be if we all agreed, besides Nyack folks know you don’t have a prejudice against us. It is the Bridge.
Hit em straight and please pick against Nyack again this week.
Rochesters Aquinas has a lot of quality ball players. Tough lineman, great system and D1 type skill players. Aquinas is huge up front and very well coached. Nyack would have to play a A game to keep it close
rileygirl,
AQ is very tough. They have been giving up quite a few points this year.
Their defense is not as strong as last year, but if Nyack can get there it will be a great game.
We have a tough one Friday and if we win another tough one after that. We could end up playing the top 5 teams in the state in 5 weeks.
This team’s determination and leadership reminds me of the 03 team. The style of play is different, but they have excellent leadership from the players.
I don’t think Nyack was number 4 or 5. I honestly believe they were number 3 all season long. I also don’t believe they should of been ranked higher than Somers or Ossining at any point this season. In whatever order you want to put them the top 2 teams were Ossining and Somers. Nyack to me was a distant 3 until they actually played Ossining and lost. I thought that they beat themselves, but I still had them at 3 just not distant.
I don’t care about the score predictions unless we are putting money on them. I cared about how Kevin was ranking teams like John Jay, Harrison, Eastchester ahead of Nyack. I don’t think kevin ever had Nyack at 4, after they lost to Ossining they jumped to 3. Nyack was ranked 5 until week 6!
It don’t matter now because we proved we were number 1 at the end
Nyack may be in trouble Cornwall’s only loss was in week 1 to phenom Monroe Woodbury in a close game. They lost 19-24
Max preps is great you can go back as far as the 2004 season for stats
The QB from Cornwall gets down and dirty…
http://www.maxpreps.com/new-york/football/cornwall-central-(new-windsor)/kevin-arduino/stats.aspx?athleteid=391d5108-4c0a-4c32-a543-37ca4635fa41&ssid=2f36027d-d6f6-4509-aba9-adad5cc85b5e&urpath=,local,player
He attempted 38 passes in the last game. Everyone know’s Nyack’s secondary is weak. Nyack is going to have their hands full. They need, i repeat NEED to develop some sort of pass rush! They have never seen a passing juggernaut like this before! I pray Nyack can pull this one off. If Cornwall’s line can control the Nyack defensive line, this guy Kevin Arduino is going to pick them apart
OMG he also has more rushing yards then even Leonard does. Nyack could sure use that defensive tackle that tore his ACL right about now!
He leads the whole state in passing, that includes AA, CHSFL… This guy is the real deal 2229 passing yards and 29 TDs. 649 rushing yards and 10 TDs. This guy is clean
Finally Some Respect!!!!!!!!!
Glad to See Kev & Cas
Go Indians!!!!!!!
Section 9 football just keeps on improving. The areas growing population demands better and better sports programs, high school and youth teams (from Pop Warner, etc.).
Good luck to Nyack. They will represent Rockland and section 1 football proudly!!
Mr. Devaney,
I hope you know that I have nothing against you. I also know that you read these threads and you’ve seen the countless times where I’ve given you much credit for having a major impact on section 1 sports.
Yea I may disagree with you alot and I also may taunt other bloggers as well but you and I both know what stimulates these blogs. I love the arguments on here because facts begin to spill out of control!!!
Take a thread that everyones all friendly and complementing each other and it goes nowhere. Now take a thread that has major debates and arguments and you get 100 plus postings!!! A major chunk of facts come out and a major chunk of what I know comes from these blogs over the years.
Now maybe its unfair to say you have a bias. Hey, I understand… I can relate. Don’t look at it in a bad way. Having a bias as a reporter doesn’t effect you as much as having a bias as a sports analyst. Having a bias doesn’t mean you hate a school either.
Devaney, I been doing a little thinking and maybe your more bias towards your picks then anything else. I feel that you want to be right so you stick with who you believed in from the begining till something happens. In example, You had every reason to rank JJEF number 1 towards the end but you didn’t. I also believe that you feed into a teams reputation coming into a season which hurt you with the JJCR prediction. Nyack wasn’t one of those teams. Nyack didn’t leave a very serious mark the last couple seasons so they didn’t have much noise coming in and that reflected in your rankings. It also reflected in many opinions. The good thing is that when you get critics complaining about your rankings, you can take it as a sign of respect and that Your word is so respected that its worth a complaint.
What I like about you most and everyone else on this blog is that no matter how tainted the opinions are, everyone seems to have a clue… even if I tell them they dont LOL. Sometimes I respond to bloggers to teach and sometimes I respond to learn. I have no shame in saying that I gain more info then I actualy provide. I think collectively, we all make a good section 1 encyclopedia.
You make it all possible Devaney.
For all of us whose football season ended in disappointment, we’re looking forward to the high schoool basketball season. Good Luck to the remaining football teams—have fun and enjoy the ride!
Kevin,keep up the good work.Your commentary & blog brought high school football to a new level.Thank you….
10960
You might come off as a pain in the you-know-what, but you are a good guy. You know that this blog is the best thing that has ever happened to Section One—and you realize it is all Kevin’s doing. There has never been coverage like this. If it was like this way back when we were in school, it would have been great. Your post shows that you are a stand up guy. After a long season of going back and forth, it is nice to see everyone rooting for the local teams going on.
Good Luck to ALL of the section one teams. We are rooting for all of you!!
Kevin,
I guess you can add me to the list of people who appreciate your work and your passion for high school athletics. (Not to mention, of course, showing some love for Section 1 teams outside of the Journal News coverage area.) It’s unfortunate that some people take it personally when you don’t pick their team to win a game, but you are entitled to your own opinion. Just like everyone else on this blog…
Anyway, best of luck to New Ro, Nyack, Rye, Croton-Harmon, and Tuckahoe on their “Quest for the Dome”...
10960,
Good post.
This blog is fantastic. I moved away from Rockland County 30 years ago and have reconnected to the sports scene and the area through this blog. I live in South Jersey where the high school football is excellent but the converage is terrible. There is nothing like this where I live. Mr. Devaney starts it off with his insightful (and yes sometimes biased) analysis and 10960 keeps it going with his excellent analysis (and Nyack Bias) as well. You should all be thankful this exists. For the last four years I have looked forward to this blog every summer as the season approached. For a high school football junkie like me, it is wonderful. For a homesick former inhabitant, it provides a lifeline to the past. Keep up the good work.