Thursday, December 9, 2010

R.I. high school football final poll

With a 20-17 victory over Portsmouth last weekend in the Division I Super Bowl, unbeaten Bishop Hendricken, not surprisingly, remained in the top spot in the final poll. The Patriots didn't fall after suffering their third loss, staying at No. 2.

Middletown, though, made the biggest leap. The Islanders, who briefly dropped out of the poll when it lost three out of four games, finished No. 9 after being No. 19 at the start of the week. Led by star running back Rico McCray, Middletown defeated rival Rogers, the No. 1 seed in the Division III playoffs, then polished off Moses Brown 21-0 in the Super Bowl. The Vikings took a hit, falling from No. 8 to No. 13.

Team Points Last week
1. Hendricken (11) 220 1
2. Portsmouth 209 2
3. East Providence 192 5
4. La Salle 179 3
5. Woonsocket 178 6
6. Barrington 171 4
7. Tolman 155 7
8. Cranston East 126 9
9. Middletown 120 19
10. St. Raphael 109 10
11. Chariho 108 11
12. Mount Pleasant 89 16
t-13. Rogers 71 8
t-13. Cranston West 71 13
15. Moses Brown 67 12
16. Johnston 59 14
17. Central 40 15
18. Westerly 36 18
19. Exeter-West Greenwich 32 20
20. Lincoln 26 17
Dropped from poll: none.
Also receiving votes: South Kingstown 16, Burrillville 4, Cumberland 4, Mount Hope 4, North Smithfield 3, Shea 3, Toll Gate 3.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Musings from a mauling

The big Monday Night Football showdown between the Patriots and Jets turned out to be a big boring beat down. What happened during the game wasn't terribly interesting (to anyone outside New England), so in my boredom in the fourth quarter, my thoughts wandered elsewhere.

In the first half, Patriots fans began mocking the famous Jets chant, "J-E-T-S, JETS! JETS! JETS!" with their own version, "J-E-T-S, SUCK! SUCK! SUCK!" It was funny at first, but got old quickly. Of course, the drunker fans got, the funnier they probably thought they were.

At halftime, longtime Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi was honored for some inexplicable reason. I figured it was because the team was inducting him into its Hall of Fame, but apparently they just wanted to parade him out, have him throw on his old No. 54 jersey and wax poetic about his glory days. No disrespect to Bruschi. Guy was a hell of a player. But this pomp and circumstance seemed pretty pointless, other than giving fans a chance to dust off their Bruschi jerseys.

"I've always said that was the biggest compliment fans ever gave me, to wear my jersey," Bruschi said as he met with reporters in the press box. "I still see them once in a while, and it's very flattering."

Every time I come here, I look down into the stands to try and find the most unique jersey worn by a fan. The honor this time goes to a guy with an old Laurence Maroney No. 39 jersey with a piece of paper reading "WOODHEAD" taped over Maroney's name. I've said it before and I'll say it again, someone needs to manufacture personalized replacement nameplates for NFL jerseys. That's a million-dollar idea.