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‘O Jogo Bonito’ Uplifts Players and Parents as NCFC ’06-’07 Boys Start the Season 4-0

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Sports can be such a wonderful distraction.  And in times like these we all need something beautiful, to take our collective and individual minds off of our concerns and worries, and to remind us that, yes—there is joy in this world. 

We pause to take in the simplest gift that nature has bestowed on us these past four weekends—one pictured at right. The glorious sun beaming over the leafy trees as they begin to change over to their autumnal shades. The greenest of natural grass laid out like a carpet for young boys to meet and play, as Pele made famous, “the beautiful game.” The vigor of our youth, cheered on for a taste of the valor and glory of sport. So simple, so wonderful, so beautiful. So, please let me take a stab—at something really beautiful that our boys have given us these past four weeks in their victories…not a highlight of goals scored, or a recounting of how they won the games, but instead my adaptation of Frank Sinatra’s “You Can’t take that Away From Me” (play it while reading, embed below):

NCFC BOYS,

There are many many crazy things that will keep us cheering for you
And with your permission, may I list a few? Coach Meaghan– the way you wear your hat,
Oliver Sturn, Ben Bognon—the way you stop those free…
The memory of ALL THAT
No, No they can’t take that away from me…
Will Arnold, Rogan Lowe—the way your kick just beams,
Teddy Ansaldi, Ollie Carr, Harry Cullen—the way you pass so key. Dylans Rees and Ho and Snell – the way you play, such dreams!

Basketball: New Canaan 6th-Grade Boys Black Team Notches Clutch Holiday Season Win at Darien

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Winter, received by some with dread and others with glee. A season when the birds have flown away, trees grow bare, with the days ever shorter consumed by cold air. And yet, a wonderful transformation occurs round this time of year. The autumn palate replaced by the majesty of winter’s white, lifts our town and its folk with a new sort of merriment—the holiday season, a time for joy and celebration. The change in season also marks the start of basketball, a great winter sport.

New Canaan Football Club’s ‘Hot Hand’ in Cup Play

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For more than 30 years, Nobel Prize winning economists and scientists who study human behavior and judgment led by Thomas Gilovich, Robert Vallone and Amos Tversky (GVT, for short) have questioned whether human beings can defy statistical probabilities and get “hot” or streaky in their performance, particularly in sports. Out of that skepticism came the technical term “The Hot Hand Fallacy,” empirically attempting to debunk the amazing performances that each of us have witnessed with athletes who frequently defy statistical probabilities (see Steph Curry). 

Now, please bear in mind that I’m not a PhD nor am I close to being nominated for any awards, let alone a Nobel Prize. But this much I have read from contemporary academics, “recent work has uncovered critical flaws in the research which underlies this consensus (the hot hand fallacy). In fact, these flaws are sufficient to not only invalidate the most compelling evidence against the hot hand, but even to vindicate the belief in streakiness.” 

And here’s someone who knows a thing or two about hot streaks, the legendary Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach who famously said regarding the academics who disputed the hot hand: “Who is this guy? So he makes a study.

News

Raising the Bar: NCFC 2007 Boys Red ‘Onward to Victory’

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New Canaan, September 15, 2019

The incredibly rich and storied history of Notre Dame football has given the fans of the Fighting Irish 11 national championships and seven Heisman trophies, a fight song that induces goose bumps whenever, in all of their glory and splendor, the Band of the Fighting Irish marches out playing the ND Victory March. 

More than any other college football program, Notre Dame has created heroes and legends on the field that have translated into tinseltown legends. I of course am referring to the two classics topping USA Today’s 25 best football movies of all time, “Knute Rockne, the All-American” and “Rudy.” Thank you in advance to the Fighting Irish for the key ingredients for my New Canaan Youth Sports story this week. 

This past Sunday on the pastoral fields of New Canaan’s beautiful new athletic facilities, the NCFC Boys Red 2007 team embraced its new leader and Coach, Maegan Doyle. Coach Maegan is a highly accomplished soccer player who hails from Harwich, England, played for England’s U19 Women’s team and recently won the NCAA Division II National Player of the Year for the University of Bridgeport Women’s soccer team while leading them to the 2018 D2 National Championship. 

And just before this weekend’s match, one of the NCFC Red ’07 Boys players, Javi Minuesa, broke his collar bone and will be sidelined for four to six weeks. A team favorite, Javi definitely will definitely be missed on the field and on the sidelines. See where this is going?

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‘Father’s Day Special’ at NCHS Track Field

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I am learning to appreciate Father’s Day more each year, especially as I strive to become a better dad. 

I have to say, there are some great role models here in this amazing town. Men who support, love and encourage their kids. Guys who lead by example and help their children become, as we hear so often these days, “the best version of themselves.” 

But gosh, that’s a real challenge. 

I just read that the Pew Research Center now finds 57% of fathers in the United States find being a dad rewarding all of the time, right there with Moms at 58%. But here’s the rub, 63% of Dads still believe that they spend too little time with their kids, way more than the Moms at 35%. I am no PhD in child psychology and I haven’t written a best-seller (yet?), but I do know that cheering my kids on with some really cool dads on the weekends while watching the boys revel in playing team sports sure goes a long way in the ‘Be a Better Dad and Quality Time’ camp.