Here are two of Remmy's 2011 NVL season highlights to hold you over. The 2011 Playoff highlight video will be released before the beginning of April. The following two videos contains highlights from the 2011 NVL season.
2011 NVL First-Half Season Highlights
2011 NVL Second-Half Season Highlights
And here are three videos we did not have a chance to add to the Season Highlights:
Seymour vs. Emmett O'Brien Tech
Torrington vs. Ansonia
Ansonia vs. Derby
We're now just one season away from the resumption (essentially) of football season. Hang in there for about another two months and we'll see if we can pump out some of those spring football previews like we did last year. Schools have until April 1 to declare whether they will participate in spring football or add extra days to the beginning of fall workouts. Nine of 14 NVL schools elected for spring football in 2011, with Derby, Sacred Heart, Seymour, Watertown, and Wilby choosing the fall option. We will post the decisions when they are finalized.
In other news, it looks like all 14 head coaches will be staying with their teams as no vacancies have been posted anytime in the offseason. This comes one year after we saw three teams hire new coaches--Jay Pace to Wolcott, Patrick Russo to Wilby, and David Jurewicz to Crosby.
Much of the recent talk on the blog has centered on potential scheduling not only for 2012, but for the two 11-game regular seasons that will follow. I gained some updated information on these issues Monday, and here's what I've got for you.
- It appears as though Torrington and Ansonia will not square off again in Week 1 of the regular season, according to updated information Monday night. The Red Raiders' plan is to either find another nonconference game or settle with a nine-game regular season. We haven't had the chance yet to find out what Ansonia's plan will be to fill the gap.
- Naugatuck and Wilby will play each other in Week 1, as will Watertown and Montville. There is no definitive word yet whether other teams will pick up NVL games, nonconference games, or no games in their spots. Woodland also has posted a Week 3 schedule opening on the CIAC website.
- None of the schedules have been posted yet to the CIAC website. Most teams from the state's major conferences have already posted their schedules (I've got a little backdoor way to see them), but none of the NVL schedules are up as of Monday. We'll link to them as soon as they are up.
- The nine-game league schedule (six division games, three crossover games based on power rankings) will remain the same this season, with teams switching home fields from where they were in 2011. This is the second and final year of the current power schedule rotation, so the league schedule will change based on the previous two years' standings for the 2013 season.
- 2013 and 2014 will both feature 11-game regular seasons, as is the case once every few years. The NVL will keep its nine-game league schedule, with a 10th game as a free nonconference opportunity. Teams may either schedule others from around the state, a non-scheduled NVL team, or leave the week open as to not play the extra game.
- The NVL-SWC agreement to play interleague games in both the 2013 and 2014 seasons is "almost a done deal," I was told on Monday. As it was previously explained to me, NVL and SWC teams will be matched up based on their leagues' respective power rankings. For example, in 2013, the No. 1 NVL team would face the No. 1 SWC team, and in 2014, the No. 1 NVL team would face the No. 2 SWC team. There is still plenty of time for this agreement to take shape, but it looks like it will happen.
By the way, we're up to 397 likes on our Facebook page. Whoever becomes No. 400 will get a shout-out right here on the blog.
Enjoy the great weather and what should be a very entertaining, competitive spring season (especially baseball). Remember, just because the head honchos aren't posting doesn't mean we're not watching...
