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Drury Tennis Pushed Back

Staff Reports

The Mount Everett at Drury varsity tennis match, which was canceled today because of the wet weather, will now be played tomorrow (Thursday, May 20) at 4 p.m. at the MCLA tennis courts.

Coaches and ADs are encouraged to send cancellations and/or event announcements to pronan@iberkshires.com.

Tags: Drury High School      

Down Goes Arquette!

Patrick Ronan

Well, if you were dying to know what actor David Arquette — from such cinematic gems as Scream, Scream 2, Ready 2 Rumble and See Spot Run — has been up to lately, here is your answer.

According to the report, he was trying to help a security guard, which is quite noble of him. It’s still hilarious. I mean, common, Arquette is probably one of the worst actors in Hollywood. Seriously, maybe the absolute worst. Thus, him falling down in public only makes sense.

But apparently he’s a pretty good guy, which is worth something. So in his honor, the picture of him laying on his butt at a Lakers game is my new desktop wallpaper.

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Wow. The Red Sox are finding new and exciting ways to lose baseball games. I was on my way back from a meeting Monday night, listening to the game on the radio, and heard the Sox were down 6-1 early. A rout in progress, or so I thought.

I was still working at around 10:30 p.m. when my roommate, who happens to be a Yankees fan (I know, it’s terrible), called me, all excited, because Alex Rodriguez had just tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a two-run bomb. TIED THE GAME? The Sox were winning? Since when? Since then. Now it was tied.

Five minutes later, I get a text from my Yankee-loving roommate, saying “Walk off!!!” — referring to the game-winning home run hit by Marcus Thames.

Although the days of a Red Sox win or loss actually affecting my mood are long gone, some losses leave a residual sting. Monday night's stung a bit.

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If you haven't been following Dylan Dethier's blog Eighteen in America, get on it. Dethier’s latest blog, detailing his experience as a caddy in the Quail Hollow Pro-Am Tournament, is a great read. 

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To all local parents, coaches or ADs, if you have a cool sports story idea or event announcement, please feel free to pass it along to pronan@iberkshires.com.

Tags: David Arquette, Dylan Dethier      

Williams Names Kelton New Head Football Coach

Patrick Ronan

 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The search for the next head football coach at Williams College is over, and the job hunt has ended with a historic hiring.

On Monday, the college officially announced Aaron Kelton as the successor to Mike Whalen, who left Williams in March to become the coach and assistant athletic director at Wesleyan University. Although records at Williams College cannot verify every coach in the program's 126-year history, it is believed that Kelton is the first black head football coach in school — and New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) — history.

Kelton said in an interview Monday afternoon that he has been informed by other sources that he is the first black head football coach in Williams history.

"This is monumental," Kelton said. "I'm elated by it. It shows the commitment Williams has by making sure it goes about the process in the right way, by giving everyone an opportunity. It helps carry on the rich tradition that Williams already has."

In a press release, Williams College Athletic Director Harry Sheehy expressed his excitement in the hiring of Kelton.

"I’m thrilled that Aaron and his wife Charlotte will be joining the Williams athletic family and college community," Sheehy said. "The search committee was impressed with Aaron’s energy and passion for teaching the game of football to young men, and this passion resonated with people on our campus throughout the process. He’ll be a tireless teacher, coach, and recruiter. Current and future Eph football players will be inspired and challenged to reach for their potential under Aaron’s tutelage. It’s with much enthusiasm that we call on him to carry forward the great tradition that is Williams football."

Kelton joins the Ephs after four seasons coaching in the Ivy League at Columbia University — he was the Lions' defensive coordinator for the last two seasons following two seasons as their secondary coach. He came to Columbia after five seasons as a defensive coach at Virginia State, where he spent four as the linebackers coach and one as the secondary coach.

Following his graduation from Springfield College in 1992, Kelton was an assistant at his alma mater, Wellesley (Mass.) High School, for four years and an assistant at Wayland (Mass.) High School for one season. After one season each as an defensive assistant at Clarion and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he filled roles as the defensive coordinator, defensive special teams coordinator and recruiting coordinator at Concord College (West Virginia) from 1999 to 2001.

The job at Williams will be his first head coaching position.

"I am overjoyed with the whole idea that Williams has selected me," he said."It's a very prestigious school and a prestigious football program. I'm so happy. It's really hard to put into words."

A native of Boston, Kelton was an all-state football player at Wellesley High before lettering in his four seasons at Springfield College, where he was the starting quarterback for two seasons. Although most of his professional coaching experience is on the defensive end of the ball, Kelton said that his understanding of how to stop the offense — combined with his playing experience as a quarterback — translates into a well-rounded pedigree.

He said his four seasons at Columbia have prepared him for some of the off-the-field requirements a Williams coach, which includes demanding the highest academic standards for his players, as well as recruiting new athletes on a national level.

Kelton has received prized NFL Summer Internships for the last three years, allowing him to serve on the coaching staff of three pro clubs — Indianapolis Colts in 2007, Jacksonville Jaguars in 2008 and Arizona Cardinals in 2009.

"These coaches are the best at what they do," he said of his experience working with pro coaching staffs. "Working with guys like Tony Dungy (Colts), Jack Del Rio (Jaguars) and Ken Whisenhunt (Cardinals) opened my eyes. They are so detail-oriented. It made me focus on doing it the right way and focusing on all of the little things."

The Ephs are coming off a 6-2 season, and they will return 18 of their 22 starters this fall. Williams hasn't won the NESCAC Championship since 2006. Kelton said he'll bring a "different dynamic" to the sidelines at Weston Field, an approach that he believes will lead to a conference title.

"There is not a lot that has to be changed, but I will make my own little changes to help motivate the players, so we can be 8-0 and champions of the NESCAC," he said.
 

Tags: Williams College, Aaron Kelton      

Useless Stats

Patrick Ronan

So the Bruins are wandering into Yankees territory.

Oh well. Should make for an exciting Game 7 on Friday night in Boston. If Philadelphia wins, it'll become just the third team in NHL history to come back to win a best-of-7 series after trailing 3-0. If the B's lose, they'd become the first team — in the three major sports that use best-of-7 (NHL, NBA, MLB) — to lose a series after leading 3-0 since, well, you know.

I hate to pick on the Yankees — actually, I love it — but when the Sox are in fourth place in the AL East, you tend to live in the past.

Coming back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series is remarkable, a statistical anomaly. But there are some stats that I feel are just unnecessary to focus on. In every story I've read about the Bruins-Flyers today, the stat I keep seeing is that Boston is 16-0 when leading a series 3-0. Really?

Two teams in NHL history have come back from 3-0 to win a series. That's a good stat because of the improbability of it actually happening. The Bruins being 16-0? It's a space filler.

And same goes for the Celtics-Cavs series; one recurring stat I'm seeing is that the Celts are 32-1, in team history, when leading the series 3-2.

Those stats look good on paper, but how much do they really matter? Do you think the Bruins will be in the locker room tomorrow night, ready to take the ice, when head coach Claude Julien says "Listen men, the Bruins as a franchise, which existed 50 years before most of you were born, are 16-0 when leading 3-0. So don't fret, we've got history on our side tonight!"

I understand that some players take pride in their team's legacy, but most guys are just collecting a pay check from the club that decided to acquire them. And most will end up playing for another team with a whole new set of historical stats that have no direct bearing on their performance.

Maybe I'm making too much of it, but I just think it's silly that these sort of team-history stats are used in print. They're useless. The city and jersey doesn't make a team more likely —  or unlikely — to win a series. The players who make up the team determine that.

Tags: Bruins, Celtics, 2004 ALCS      

Sleeping On the Job

Patrick Ronan

With all the recent reports about Ken Griffey Jr. sleeping in the Seattle Mariners clubhouse, it reminded me of my freshman baseball coach from high school.

We were in the field as the other team batted. Once the third out was made, we gingerly made our way back to the dugout....to find our coach sleeping. The brim of his hat shielded his eyes and he had his arms crossed over his chest, but he was definitely in the midst of a peaceful slumber. A couple of my teammates called out his name, but no response.

Half the team was laughing, while the other half was a bit stunned that the coach had somehow dozed off DURING A GAME. This wasn't exactly a shock to me. This was the same coach who, earlier in the season, spent an entire half-inning tearing paint chips off the dugout wall instead of giving signals to the catcher.

Oh, the memories. Some kids grow up with coaches who pass on invaluable life lessons while teaching them the importance of character and sportsmanship. And....some kids had coaches who slept or played with paint chips.

I suppose there were some unintentional lessons taught by my freshman baseball coach: 1. If you're tired, drink a coffee. 2. If you have a dire, uncontrollable interest in the inner workings of a dugout, so much that you can't focus on the game, perhaps coaching a baseball team isn't the right fit.

 

     
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