Lists: The Robcasting Top 10

Courtesy Thinkstock

Everyone does a ranking.

Top 10 this or that. Best of and so on.

It's a majestically-flawed operation, to be sure. One opinion versus another.

A few days ago, I noticed Fairfield Ludlowe's Falcon Sports Network (aka Aiden Blanc) did a top ten list of games for 2018. Politely, I said I disagreed with one of the choices (one that I called, to be fair). To rank a dramatic overtime basketball game at number nine while posting a regular season football game at number one just didn't quite hold for me.

But, again, opinions. If you're going to join the ranks of the media (a la the troops at WWPT Radio at Staples High School), then you've got to be ready to defend those opinions.

Alas.

As for me, I love reading rankings. Then I love running them through my brain to see where they sit.

So let's do the Top 10 Robcasting Moments/Games (nearly all games ran on Robcasting, even if the main outlet was WGCH, Local Live, or elsewhere so that I could have a backup).

Honorable mentions: Too many to mention. Watching Cornelius Johnson's brilliance. Watching Gavin Muir, Jack Feda, Mozi Bici and company from week to week. Reuniting with my high school for hockey (and reuniting with Harold for the hockey broadcasts). Calling the MLK Holiday Classic in Webster Bank Arena with Shawn Sailer. Calling Gilbert/Nonnewaug baseball at Municipal Stadium in Waterbury with Tim Parry. Calling the FCIAC Championship in boys soccer. The state hockey championship between Greenwich and Fairfield Prep. Building myriad relationships with King School, Greens Farms Academy and more.

I'm trying to work everyone in. I can't.

10) Hockey: Girls Winter Classic, New Canaan at Greenwich (12/29/18).  I know the boys game later on had the bigger crowd, under the lights, and I suppose we could put both games here. But the girls game was my first outdoor hockey broadcast. Watching Jennifer Kelly score right below my broadcast perch was really...er...cool. So we can make both games number 10.

Check this out on Chirbit

 9) Lacrosse: Hill Academy at Brunswick (4/25/18). The Bruins won. It was decisive. For a stretch, they were in the conversation for the best team in the country (and, I suppose, the world, since Hill is from Canada). It was a great night for lacrosse in the tri-state area.

Check this out on Chirbit
8) Hockey: The Gunnery at Brunswick (2/9/18). This one is personal. Mike Richter -- yes, his name is on the Stanley Cup and his number hangs in the rafters at Madison Square Garden -- was my analyst. Brunswick won, and Mike had a rooting interest, but for one day, he was my partner. It attracted a different audience. It was a blast. Once my nerves settled down.

Check this out on Chirbit

7) Hockey: Darien vs. Suffield co-op (CHSGHS Girls Ice Hockey Championship, 3/11/18). Mick McGowan joined me, so having a friend made it fun. Shawn Sailer was there also. We had the privilege of being the exclusive live voice of the state championship. Darien won. Girls hockey continues to win.

Check this out on Chirbit

6) Baseball: Hopkins @Brunswick (5/21/18). I was partnered with Jim Walsh, whom I'd never met before. No pressure. The Bruins held on and Trystan Sarcone pitched his tail off. The joy of baseball.


Check this out on Chirbit

5) Baseball: Newtown @ Trumbull (7/12/18). This belongs to Mike Buswell, coach of Trumbull, who asked me to come do the games. Sometimes, one just needs to be wanted. So I did them, and had a ball, practically living at Unity Park, between the Babe Ruth and Little League games I did there. Each game was a blast, including the Darien/Trumbull game a few nights earlier. In this case, it took a walkoff to send Trumbull to the regional tourney in Norwalk (and a call that evoked 1959's "We Go to Chicago," as said by Vin Scully). It was very pure baseball.

Check this out on Chirbit

4) Baseball: Keene, NH @ Norwalk (Babe Ruth New England Regional Championship, 7/25/18). After a crazy stretch of game...after game...of Babe Ruth and Little League baseball, it came down to Keene and Norwalk. All of the fans at that event were awesome. I have a sign hanging at home that was a gift from Keene. Other teams gave me hats. I got soaking wet and sunburned and burned out and possibly damaged my right leg from standing, and I. Loved. All. Of. It. But how it ended was unfortunate and bizarre. I felt for Keene. I was happy for Norwalk. I was baffled by it all.

Check this out on Chirbit

3) Basketball: Fairfield Ludlowe @ Fairfield Prep (Holiday Classic, 12/27/18). You didn't have to be there to get it. Prep built up a big lead before halftime. Prep scored zero in the third quarter. The teams went back and forth. It took free throws in OT. I was exhausted, and didn't leave Alumni Hall for over an hour after the game ended.

(I realize this isn't a Ludlowe highlight, but this Jack Scholl bucket brought the place to its feet)
Check this out on Chirbit

2) Hockey: East Coast Selects vs. Russ Moscow Hockey (World Selects U15 Invitational Final, 5/6/18). How can I put this succinctly? East Coast Selects won a WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. The winning goal (sans my play-by-play) made SportsCenter as a Top 10 (not the only time that happened in 2018). Again, I broadcast a world championship. That magnitude of that is overwhelming.

Check this out on Chirbit

1) Football: Greenwich vs. New Canaan (12/8/18). The empire is back. In his fourth year, John Marinelli has brought the Cardinals back to being the target. They're now the program that others want to be, and I saw every play of it. December 8 was a coronation, featuring show-stopping gadget plays (and thus AJ Barber's one-handed catch and throw made SportsCenter). On the field, before and after the game, it was clear that Greenwich was back, bursting with pride. Generations held each other in a town-wide hug.

Check this out on Chirbit

OK, so now it's your turn. Bring it. It's what's fun about doing this, and the truth is, if I decide I was wrong or missed something, I'll update this post.

UPDATE: 1/3 (4:36 pm): I've added individual calls from each of the games, and I wanted to point out a few facts about my archive. I'm also pleased to have people listen to games after the fact, and download them.

- To stream the games, please visit my Mixcloud page at https://www.mixcloud.com/robcasting-radio/
- To download them (or stream them), please visit my Archive page at https://archive.org/details/@double5
- To hear some of the calls that I've chosen to to highlight, visit my Chirbit page at https://www.chirbit.com/double5