My first day as a reporter at The Journal News was April 1, 1999 (seriously). I was a free-lance reporter the previous fall — just weeks after graduating from high school — and have covered a football game every fall Saturday, and been in 75-100 gyms each winter watching boys basketball, ever since.
So I feel qualified to tackle this monster of a project.
In the next 10 days, I’ll be selected the All-Decade teams for football and boys basketball. There will be a first- and second-team on the football side, with 25 selections in each, and will pick five teams in basketball, with five players on each.
Here’s the criteria I’ll be using:
— Players in both sports had to participate in games between Jan. 1, 2000 to Dec. 31, 2009. So a football player who graduated in 2000 won’t be eligible because he technically played in the 1999 season.
— The eligible players must have played in: Section 1 (including Dutchess), or any of the local CHSAA or private schools.
— Players who attended schools outside of the coverage area (ie Don Bosco Prep, Brunswick, a school in Florida) will not be taken into consideration.
And this is the most important:
— What the player accomplished AFTER THEY LEFT HIGH SCHOOL WILL NOT BE FACTORED INTO THE DECISION. There are plenty of examples of kids who were very good in high school but were great in college, and vice-versa. The high school resume will be all that is counted in this process.
With these teams, I’ll also be selected a Player of the Decade, a Coach of the Decade, a Team of the Decade in each sport.
Of course, I’ll need your help. Please offer your nominees here. Don’t feel obligated to nominate Ray Rice or Ben Gordon. I’ve got them marked down already. What I want is for you to refresh my memory of somebody, perhaps, in 2001 that ran for 1,500 yards or scored 1,200 points.
I have already produced a rough draft for all teams, which I’m sure I’ll revise countless times of the next week.
Please, spread the word to family, friends and, especially, former players who might be in line to land a spot. Knowledge and expertise will decide who is picked. But Heisman-like hype definitely helps, too.
Good luck (to me).
239 Comments
Borcich and Shoemaker up the middle at DT’s 275 a pop both big strong boys…nobody ran up the middle one those kids..Ray Rice..Lombardo..both given..
deiana and lombardo have to be shoe in first teamers. if not than sorry but kevin didnt actual “cover” high school sports bc it is widely known that those were the top two players these last years. ive been reading about deiana since i dont even remember when, so i would assume the person ive read most about in recent time would be on a newspaper team. and lombardo lit it up his junior year which was enough to put him on this team.
dutchessfbfan, jimmy caan , john harvey , owens-lassic theres some names there ,
i have to disagree with lombardo and deiana as “shoe ins” how can they be shoe ins if they never even won any meaningful games? Because Dematteo ran up scores on weaker opponents during the regular season? Give me a real reason why they’re “shoe-ins”. These all decade teams should be full of state champions and NYS players of the year and kids who competed at the state playoff level numorous years. Deiana is not top 20 RB’s of the decade, where does he fit in? Lombardo could have an argument of making one of the teams but it’s by no means a “shoe-in”. 2 “shoe ins” who played together but never won even at section title? just speaking truth
On top of that, section 1 has produced less talent as the decade went on. Look at the number of 1A commits these past 2-3 years as opposed to the beginning and middle of the decade. drastic difference.
When does this list come out?
I know New Ro is going to get plenty of entries from 2003-2004 teams. But we need to keep in mind New Ro has a streak of Section Titles from 2006 to ????? No doubt some very good players have attributed to this success. With this said some other names to consider for New Ro:
Justin Maghee QB (one section title),
Markell Rice RB/WR and Paris Walker(two section titles for both),
and dare I say Jonny Maghee as well(three section titles, state finalists)
All above players played significant roles in their teams success. I know Kev can get the individual stats from the Circle. It would be nice to see one player from 2006-2009 get selected for this list based on the continued success of the Team.
Dutchess,
You bring up a great name in Chilli McAllister. He was a great one. I never knew he ended up at Central St (they play some great football out there – Hugh Douglas was from there). I also never knew he died young of cancer – sad to hear. DeMatteo had so many players in the 70’s and 80’s at Roosevelt its hard to remember many of the names. Pufahl, McAllister and Granderson were definitely near the top of the list. Tony’s brother Don also had some great ones at Gorton – Lipscomb and Williams, among others.
Lombardo wasn’t better than Alonzo Powell
Just a fact,
I think its fair to throw Jonny McGhee’s name in here. You can’t deny 3 section titles and state finals appearance especially in AA
McGhee was never the best player on any of his teams so how can he be all decade? From those teams you have Paris Walker, Markell Rice, Tremayne Williams, Samad Wagstaff, Ian Solomon who are all scholarship players.
Check out these highlights I found and then tell me these players don’t belong on the All-Decade Team!
Joe Tarasiewicz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRNwVmaV1zA
Matt Bernstein
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl98s9SaAVU&feature=related
YO,
Just to add, 21-2 in Varsity starts at QB. Undefeated at QB two years in a row in Section 1. Top three in INT’s this year defensively, including three in one playoff game. He deserves to be in the discussion.
Be prepared for the HATERS!!!!!!
Walker/ Rice/ and Justin deserve consideration as well. I am sure I am missing names as well but these were the first to come to mind. Justin carried a team through the playoffs. Markell and Walker did it for two years, Jonny for three, so the bar is high to jump one of them in my mind.
To me, it would be a win for all New Ro players 2006-2009, if ONE is selected.
Lowell Robinson WR from MV
jonathan mitchell on the basketball side.
and on the new ro entries…they won titles because of solid teams not individual brilliance. All decade is an individual award. that being said, the DE from the 06 season did damage.
Ike Nduka WP
Slowley Stepanic
and that QB a few years ago from Mount St. Michael…
Spectator,
Think of it this way. Put Markell Rice or Paris Walker as the FEATURED back on a team like Somers for two or three years. The stats would be blinding. Both kids had tons of talent. They just were not featured, they had to share. Not to mention Coach D’s compassion for not running up scores(Praise) and padding the stats during the regular season.
I am just looking for one kid, that is all. New Ro has TONS of talent from 2006-2009, that other teams would die for.
But good point, team of the Decade would not be bad. Should be close.
The team of the decade didn’t win it all 2004 New Rochelle.
10960
North rock comes close in AA and Harrison comes close in A.
Power,
I could be wrong, but I think Kev is picking team of the decade in the sense of which school was the best over the ten year stretch, not which specific year. Like I said, I could be wrong.
Went back and read it, might be specific team. In that case got to pick the team that won. New Ro 2003!
Just a fact
There is a lot of raw talent on plenty teams.Saunders always has 1 or 2 athletes i shake my head at. In 04 MV had a trio of running backs, led by Greg Harris (toledo), who the slowest of which ran a 4.5. They also had a 4.4 reciever. Not to mention a QB who threw a ball that whistled at you on its way. At the end of the day they were an 8 seed. They squeaked past jj and lost their qb in a blowout of then undefeated 1 seed carmel and got blown out by new ro the next week. Their talent wont be considered for playyers of the decade because it lacked numbers of personal dominance or a significant stage in which to dominate. The point is Players of the decade will be judged on what ppl did, not wat ppl could have done in a different situation.
Spectator,
I understand your point. I agree nominations should be mostly supported by stats, as well as a small factor for accomplishments in BIG games. I think those New Ro players above that I mentioned do have the accomplishments in BIG games, especially in Champ games, to support their nominations. I wish I had stats to throw out but I do not. What I do know, you do not have that type of team success without players dominating the field. The one’s mentioned above(and I am sure others) contributed significantly in their team’s success.
Will it be enough? We will see. Maybe spot #49 or #50, one of those guys will squeak in there.
Not to stir up more controversy, but I am sure it will. How about Louie D. Jr.???????
Again I do not have stats, but maybe someone closer to the team can share.
The Break Down:
Three year starter at inside LB, he had to rack up TONS of tackles. Has the overall team success in the biggest class AA to boot(three sect titles and State Champ finalist). MIGHT be worth consideration? Will have to see STATS to see if I am way off or not.
Again I know Kev is very close to New Ro and can get access to these #’s, so another nomination to consider, possibly.
Linebackers of the decade
Heavy Favorites
Featherston- Poughkeepsie- Texas A&M
Lombardo- Somers- Navy
Favorites
Bohlander – John Jay- Maryland(lacrosse)
Falasca- Harrison- Army
Burke St. John- Greeley- Prep School
Some to think about
Kees Coughlin- New Rochelle – Marist
Rob Smith- Somers- Georgetown( Lacrosse)
JAY COLABELLA FROM HARRISON!
He played two years before Falasca and was better than him at FB/LB. 6’1 215 pds. played in the state tourney and on the team that lost to Nyack in the section finals by point. He was one of the starting LB”s and captain on this years Penn team that won the Ivy league and only lost the D-1AA nat’l champ Villanova 14-3.
Pride..
Great call on Rob Smith and Burke St John og Greeley, another great player was Ned Bowen(QB)..Direinzo Jr wasnt even close..and certainly he was no Kees Coughlin..nice HS player..program, workout kid, not a great athlete that I saw..and yes MV in 04’ was scary..Greg Harris, Lowell Robinson etc….if the QB wasnt hurt they may win the chip??The others arent close..Smith was a D1 level punter and may still be an NFL level punter?And Ike Nduka was mediocre..less talented than Ridenhour..a grinder..no stats..no championships and crappy career record at WP…not a shot at the kid as he wound up at I think Buffalo..but he was an average WP TB by any measure, no Quincy or Michael Summers, Ricky Edwards, Tony Glover, Wayne Charles or others??I have a few others but am having senior moment..Happy New Year…comments like that without perspective is just fan speak in my mind??
please
YOU SOUND A LITTLE BIT JEALOUS OF DEIANA AND LOMBARDO YOU COULD TALK ALL THE CRAP YOU WANT THAY ARE STILL 2 OF THE BEST ATHLETES TO PLAY FOR SECTION 1 AND THATS A FACT.
DID YOU ALSO PLAY VARSITY FOOTBALL AND LACROSSE IN 8TH GRADE LIKE MATT DEIANA DID.INSTEAD OF CRITICIZING PLAYERS
WHY DONT YOU JUST PUT SOMEONE YOU THINK SHOULD BE ON THE LIST.
Dutch,
If the list is mostly(if not all) based on stats, a kid who plays 3 years at inside LB should be able to accumulate a lot of stats(wish I had the stats, might make this more interesting). So even though a Kees Coughlin or the others mentioned above are better, they might not have better stats especially due to the extra year or two of play. Not to mention EXTRA accolades due to being part of more section Titles.
If you asked me who the better LB’s are, no dobut I am agreeing with what you guys are saying above. But when I look at what the criteria SEEMS to be for this list, if stats dictate, Lou Jr. might have a case.
Am I way off with this logic????(probably, lol)
Happy New Year regardless and to ALL as well!!!!!
Just A Fact:
Schudter did not run the ball his sophomore year. He had around 1,100 yard rushing his junior year in only playing 7 games. His missed 2 gmes due to injury. I absolutley thinks he deserves to be up there with the others. On Antoine McGill, he was a very good player with a major attitude problem. His numbers do not stack up with many others. Also, he had major issues with his academics. Most colleges did not and will not touch him because of that.
3 Yards,
You might have just solidifed the spot for Schuster. Did not know Schuster went over 1k Jr year. So that is close to 3k yards rushing for a career, 3 year starter, playing for a team that probably did not have great blocking and not a lot of other offensive threats to keep defenses honest.
Schuster at North Rock might have been deadly out of the I formation.
Dutchess,
You never cease to amaze me with your memory for names. The summers, Ricky Edwards, Wayne Charles were major college football talents in my opinion. Edwards and Charles did go that route. The Summers never played big time college football, but that may have had something to do with grades – both were outstanding athletes. Tony Glover is a name I haven’t heard or thought of in years and years. Did he ever play any college football? He was a great back in at WPHS.
purple, i remember that nyack game ,falasca started at DE and helped contain terry baltimore,who killed them earliar that year ,great game, jay was a good LB ,but Falasca was a 3 year starter 2 year all state ,etc… at DE,hard to compare them since they played very dif positions,BTW jay graduated last year.
The truth is, Dobbs Ferry is the team of the decade. The sad thing is that because it was a C school, and not many people from Dobbs come on here they are going to get no love. The only team that should contend to them is Rye, and Rye also deserves it so maybe the two dynasties can split the award.
Call it a small school but they have the same amount of kids to pick from as the teams they went against and on their run went 81-4. No other team can say that.
Its understandable if maybe they dont have an all decade player (which they should have atleast one) because many of the bigger schools had much better athletes/players. But in terms of team of the decade, Dobbs Ferry or Rye.
Hope everyone has a happy new year, looking foward to the new decade, and congratulations to all players that make the team.
Truth,
New Rochelle won seven of 10 sectional titles in the highest classification. I don’t think Rye won 7 in B or Dobbs in C. Clearly, if one team dominated their class as much as any other school – the school in the highest classification should win team of the decade. That being said, Dobbs did have a great run in Class C.
Dobbs did win seven straight, from 2001-2007. The first two were in D, then they jumped up a class and kept it rolling. They didn’t lose a game in Section 1 from mid 2001 until the 2008 Section Semis, when they lost on a 2 point conversion to the eventual state finalists, a streak of I think 69 or 70 straight games. In those seven years they won 3 state titles (02, 04, 06) and were state finalists an additional three times (01, 05, 07). An entire decade of small school players worked out throughout the spring and summer dreaming of beating Dobbs; I know I did from 03-05, and their mystique kept growing after I graduated. They HAVE to be the program of the decade, IMHO, although Rye and New Ro can certainly make arguments.
Must consider ADRIAN CARVALHO (fox lane) over 1,300 in 3 years varsity. Brought Fox Lane out of the dark and suddenly teams began to prepare for the foxes, 44pt game against JFK. Outstanding leaper, could score with the best. Also All-stat in Track. Should have been a Big Time D1 player.
kyle jones pville
Kees Coughlin LB New RO. 3 year LB all state, suoper 11, great HS tight end as well.