Champions

 

The clock had run out and the hugging had begun. Those hugs and the roar of the cheering could be heard back at The Cos Cobber and MacDuff's and Two Doors. They could be heard in Riverside, Byram, Glenville, OG, Chickahominy, backcountry, Pemberwick, and Bruce Park.

Greenwich 37, Fairfield Prep 17. 

For the Cardinals of Greenwich, the Jesuits had bedeviled them a bit over the years. Last year, Fairfield Prep won a hard-fought, emotional playoff game.

This year, the Cardinals left no doubt. They had six takeaways -- including five interceptions, one for a pick-six touchdown -- and never turned the ball over.

They ran more than they passed behind the thunder and lightning of George Vomvolakis (152 yards) and Jack Konigsburg (58). Quarterback Jack Wilson threw for 119 yards, completing 11 of 19 passes but he also snuck for two touchdowns. That was part of the Big Red bread and butter all year.

It's a night of so many things to remember. The ride to and from the stadium as well as the time in the stadium was filled with hysteria. Chris and I did (by my count) 21 football broadcasts this fall and I did 27 in total. That included Brunswick, Middletown NY, Port Jervis NY, and Greenwich.

That concludes 24 years that I've been involved in at least one Greenwich football broadcast whether on LocalLive, Robcasting, HAN, or WGCH. Remove the years we were at HAN and COVID year when I did a 7-on-7 broadcast on Robcasting, and the count is 20 years as the lead broadcaster for Greenwich football.

Wow. What a blessing it's been.

Photo courtesy of John Holt/CIAC Sports

What a crew to work with to finish the year. This works because of the steady hand of Sean Kilkelly manning things in the studio. Our technical problems, frankly, were minimal all year. Even if we had them we calmly fixed them and moved on. That's why Sean is the best.

Shawn Sailer couldn't join us at all during the season because of his duties in Fairfield at Ludlowe and Warde (#OneTown, of course). But when given the chance to take the ride, he jumped in. I know he's lamenting that his effort to do stats wasn't perfect but I don't think it hurt the broadcast at all.

In fact, any gripes I have about last night are so minimal that they're not worth discussing. They're literally nitpicks. The experience was so great -- from checking in to get our passes to our booth to the availability of water and a restroom nearby. It's easy to knock an organization like the CIAC because, well, that's the nature of the beast but wow did they get everything right.

Live stats would have been great and maybe that will happen. As I said, didn't hurt the broadcast.

Photo courtesy of Shawn Sailer

And, of course, Chris Erway stood shoulder-to-shoulder with me for all of those games. All of those long rides. The trip to and from Trinity-Pawling when I thought my car might get wiped away in the pouring rain. The trip to Williston-Northampton when we didn't even know if we'd be allowed to call the game. The trip to Choate when we set up on the hill and might as well have worked from a different school.

The drives and belly-aching laughs. Like coming back from Choate or last night.

The season had an older-school feeling to it. There was once a time when WGCH would show up at a game and it was like we were emptying out of a clown car. We'd be a crew of four (or more) and you knew we were there.

Well, with just two (or three like last night) we had that old feeling. In truth, the rides together serve as de facto prep sessions, even if it's just to laugh. But, between the howls, there were also chats about the intricacies of the game itself and what we would do when we'd arrive at the site.

The praise (minus one person through all of those games, back in the second broadcast of the season) has been universal. I keep hearing the word "professionalism." Well, mission accomplished then. That's our goal. It's going to sound like a professional broadcast with bits of humor and our personality dropped into the stew. But it's also going to have detailed play-by-play and analysis.

I used to think anyone can do this. I'm wrong. Having the presence to remain focused as the game gets out of hand is another skill. When the score would get lopsided, we'd still do our thing while reaching for what we called "The 'B' material" of things to talk about.

Chris and I keep a high standard and we uphold it.

With Greenwich coach Tony Morello (Photo: Shawn Sailer)

So when people ask why we're not calling that game last night on the video broadcast or why we're just not calling college games or whatever else, there's a nuanced answer within.

There are politics and connections and all kinds of things going on. It's a crazy competitive world. Speaking specifically, Chris and I don't have a relationship with NFHS, the broadcaster who carried the video feed of the football championship games though we know people involved with the production. 

We think we should be involved with football and other sports and we'll see if we can change that. Obviously, calling baseball would bring me such joy.

None of that takes away from last night.

The support of our audience was phenomenal. The messages we got throughout the broadcast were incredible, though I have to be careful about reading all of it so that it doesn't take me away from the game itself.

Eventually, after laughing our way back home, we finished with a toast and some dinner.

To a successful broadcast!

To all of the successful broadcasts!

To Fairfield Prep! Also, to the memory of their fallen teammate Jimmy McGrath!

To Greenwich!

Because they are the champions.