They’re all kinds of reasons why rivalries start. It could be because of familiarity, a common goal, proximity, or just a true distain for one another. Auburn/ Alabama, Michigan/Ohio State, and North Carolina/Duke to name a few that have these characteristics. Locally in Connecticut, The Masuk Panthers and Newtown Nighthawks carry that same distinction. The official Thanksgiving rivalry game started back in 1996. Newtown leads the series 13-9-1; however the scoring differential Masuk leads by 20. Both programs, separated by only 7.5 miles, are staples in the state playoffs and are always top teams in the Southwest Conference. This season is no different with Newtown being undefeated (10-0) and Masuk coming into the game 6-3 and a chance to make the playoffs with a win. I have only been a part of one side of this rivalry when I coached linebackers at Masuk last season. I didn’t think that much of it until I experienced the intensity of practice for the 2 weeks leading up to the game. Coach’s game planned a little harder, players practice more physical, and tempers were definitely shorter. Even though it was a down year for Masuk football the game on Thanksgiving eve still meant everything. Last year, was a tough, hard fought, game with Masuk losing 21-14. A rivalry like that is so intense and personal it reminds me of growing up with my three brothers. Anytime we competed for anything you always tried a little harder and because it’s your siblings you will do anything to win. Inviting all three of my brothers Anthony, John, and Matt to a rivalry game was no brainer.
The 4 of us have always been competitive in our own way. Whether it was pickup basketball, video games, races, or just good old fighting. There were times we could be best friend and times were we can hate each other. Our ages where spaced out that each of us was going through different stages in growing up at different times. That made for a lot of friction among each other. It also left a lot of chances for us to root for each other (quietly of course). Even now as adults any compliment we give each other always had to be followed by an insult. Recently I told my John brother I benched pressed 315 pounds, which he pointed out that it should be easy to bench my weight. No accomplishment can go unpunished however I know for a fact we are always proud of each other even if they are a bunch of a**holes.
This past week I told my brothers in a group text we would be doing the wing review at Buffalo Bills. The Silence of the lamb’s jokes began to fly. “Put the wings in the basket or they get the hose” was one of many put out there. You can’t get away with anything with these guys. I took the back roads too Newtown and picked up Matt and then set off to the exit 11 park and ride to pick up the rest of the boys. The last time I remember all of us being in a car together like that was when we took an 8 hour trip with our dad to Canton, Ohio to see the football hall of fame induction. We had an incredible time however 5 guys in a car meant for 4 people in August could have ripped through several ozone layers. Luckily Buffalo Bills was a shorter trip up route 25 however the smell will always remain the same.
Buffalo Bills is tucked in the corner off a strip mall and is a community establishment that attracts regulars on Wednesday wing nights. They have billiard areas as well as dart boards which we might have to make a return trip to compete at. They had a large seating area with both booths and free standing tables. It’s the kind of place that hits you with stale beer smells and strong wing flavors as you arrive. Burgers and wings are the items the menu is built around. They have a good variety of 10 wing sauces. My brother Matt immediately was drawn to the video jute box and played “Goodbye Horses” another reference to Silence of the Lambs. I am sure we were only 4 people in the bar who understand the significance of the song. The waiter came and took our order. Having 4 of us there it was an opportunity to try a couple different flavors of wings. I ordered 20 mild, John got 6 habanero and I asked the waiter what he would recommend. He gave us an “off the menu” suggestion and told us he liked the buffalo garlic parmesan wings. The order was up and the conversation turned to mostly things that I can’t talk about in this blog. Low brow sophomoric humor that is a family tradition passed on through generations. We jokingly began to list things as “on the record” and “off the record”. On the record conversation included stuff about our kids or married life. My Dad and Mom are very happy that they finally have 4 granddaughters but little did they know would have the strong personalities of their sons.
The wings came served on small sheet trays much like you would see at a BBQ joint. The strengths of the wings were the bold flavors of the wings sauces. The mild came across as a sweeter darker sauce than I have had in prior establishments. It had good heat to it and presented more like a sweet and spicy sauce than your traditional mild. The habanero that John ordered wasn’t as spicy as I thought it would be but still had a peppery heat to it. The buffalo garlic parmesan had the strongest flavors. The garlic really stood out and the parmesan cuts a little of the buffalo sauces heat. The combination was a solid recommendation. The negatives were I found the wings to be over sauce which took away the crispiness of the wing. My style of wings always has to have a crunch factor or it really takes away from the wing experience. These wings are a 2.5 star recruit. These wings are a flashy defensive back that can cover man to man but couldn’t tackle my wife. One dimensional wings that if are cooked longer and more subtly sauced could have been in the 4 star ranges. We grabbed our check and headed to Masuk high school.
Masuk facilities up until a couple of years ago were one of the last teams in Fairfield County to acquire a turf field. Anytime I was the opposing coach during those years I was always impressed with how well manicured the field was even during those unpredictable New England falls. As we headed toward the facilities and bought our tickets, you have to walk down a long drive to get to the stadium. That walk gives fans an anticipatory feel of a big game as you turn the corner and see the bright lights beating down on the field. In rivalry games, every quarter is important and integral part to the story of the game. Just like it is for my brothers and I. Individually we have carved out our own lives, however none of that would be possible without the relationship the four of us have. That relationship has molded our personalities.
1st quarter: Anthony
The first quarter to any football is the feeling out process. You can do all the scouting you want but when the lights go on, how are you going to play that night? It’s the tone setter portion of the game. Being the first child in any family you are test case for your parents. Nobody really knows what they’re doing, its trial and error. My relationship with my older brother was always interesting. We have very different personalities but have always been bonded by being the first half of our mom and Dad’s parental game. We shared a room early on in Brooklyn. The only memory I have of that is when he broke my Teddy Ruxpin which was my prized Christmas gift in 1986. Instead of crying to my parents I made sure to air mail his new telescope down the stairs. It was eye for an eye, we were really cut throat at ages 8 and 5. When we moved to Pennsylvania we got our own rooms but that didn’t change our behavior. If my brother was playing video games and he lost, it was because I made a noise and a fight would ensue. I remember when my Uncle gave me boxing gloves when I was 9. Having a love for everything Rocky Balboa of course I thought it would be a good idea to have a boxing match with my brother who had about 50 pounds on me. Anthony wore socks on his hands because I had to have both boxing gloves on mine. Let’s just say that didn’t end well. Pennsylvania is where Anthony’s football experience began and ended. He played until he was a sophomore in high school. He was a naturally strong person and his nickname was “hoagie”. I believe he continued to play because that was what he thought he was supposed to do and not what he actually wanted to do. He was done playing football by the time we moved to Connecticut and his passion and competitive nature showed in his music as it does today. We are the only brothers who have lived together after moving out of our parents’ house. I am sure he will agree with me by saying I wouldn’t recommend that for any siblings. Two things however always bonded us was a love for music, comedy, and Chinese take-out on Lake Avenue. Our first six months in Connecticut we did not have cable. So we relied on a combo CD/cassette player and a very shady Columbia house subscription (mail order music service) that somehow ended up in my name as a thirteen year old. We would also play all the Chris Rock and Adam Sandler comedy CDs that we would repeat over and over again until it became like regular conversation at home.
In the game the first quarter went exactly as I would have
thought. No matter how many years in a row Masuk and Newtown play there are
always that early feeling out process. Both teams, not wanting to give an inch,
punted twice in the first quarter. The lone highlight came when senior
offensive guard Jake Krofssik pancaking a Newtown defender. Jake is built just
like my older brother at 5’10” and 285 during his short time playing. At the
end of the first quarter the game was a stalemate 0-0.
2nd
quarter: Chris
The second quarter is where everything starts to loosen up. You have seen how the tempo of the game is going and you start to take some chances. In the second quarter you have probably made slight adjustments to your game plan and your team has settled in to the game. The second child in any sibling group is the same way. You’re born into a routine and child rearing system that has been established with your older sibling. They say there is a second child syndrome were the second born child feel left out. I was the kind of kid that wouldn’t allow myself to feel that way. Sometimes even open hand slapping someone across the face if they wouldn’t pay attention to me (sorry cousin Mike) I took on different roles with all my brothers. With Anthony a lot of times felt like I took the older brother role and tried to be more assertive especially when we lived together for that short time. My relationship with John was always competing, either in sports or for attention. No matter what it was it usually ended with me making him bleed, allegedly of course. Lastly Matt and I (who I actually coached for three years) I took a father like role. My Dad used to jokingly called me his second in command because of how I was with Matt. All these different roles I took on really helped form my coaching style.
The second quarter was more of the same with both teams not being able to break through. Newtown certainly had their opportunities but Masuk’s defense stepped up their game in the second quarter. On back to back drives the Panthers had goal line stop on 4th and 4 and a Chris Tillotson interception in the red zone which thwarted two Newtown threats to get on the scoreboard. The first half ended with the score knotted at 0.
3rd Quarter: John
The third quarter is where you make your adjustments in the locker room at halftime and deploy them on the field. The third quarter is the most competitive quarter because it can bust a close game open or be the catalyst for a great comeback. The third child is definitely competing for attention not only from parents but from the two older siblings. My brother John is the most competitive of the 4 of us. I think I am a competitive person but only about the things I care about. John takes anything he does as a competition. This is probably why my relationship with John out of all my brothers was the most volatile growing up. We played the same position in high school and wore the same number. So who was better was always an argument. John, like younger brothers, was a “pain in the ass” for lack of a better term. He was always trying to get attention and I would usually accommodate him by putting him in every WWF submission hold I would see on TV. When I was 10, I got thrown out of a McDonalds play area for suplexing him into the ball pit. I can remember a 2 on 2 basketball game in the driveway where his team started to get the best of my team. As he drove in for a layup I made sure to foul him (shove him) as hard as I could so he couldn’t secure the win. He then uttered the words that he still gets made fun of to this day for. “Why does it always have to be this way”? Twenty plus years later it’s toned down a bit now with having families of our own. I got the opportunity to coach him in High School which was a learning process for me but I was always impressed how he handled that situation. Competition will never end between him and I. It is just a little less violent.
Newtown’s competitive fire finally broke through on their
first possession of the third quarter with a 1- yard touchdown run by junior
running back Luke Hannion. With the score 7-0, Masuk stayed within striking
distance after an errant snap sailed over the nighthawks quarterbacks head and Masuk’s
Colin Meropoulos tackled him in the endzone for a safety. This play made the
score 7-2 heading into the final quarter.
4th
quarter: Matt
The 4th Quarter is always the toughest one. After three quarters of intense
physical back and forth can you finish strong? This applies to any type of
game. Do you have the metal toughness if you’re down big to play hard till the
end? Do you have the focus when you’re up big to play mistake free football? Do you have the competitive fire in a close
game to make the plays needed to win the game? These are all questions that are
answered in 12 minutes during the final quarter of play. My brother Matt was
the smallest out of all the brothers but I will have to say by far the
toughest. Whether his toughness came by necessity from having 3 older brothers
or from his stature, he never feared mixing it up. Unlike my relationship with
my other brothers I always felt protective of Matt. I can remember taking Matt
into the back yard and going through drills to get him ready for his first
football practice. We played a game against Brookfield High School Matt’s
sophomore year where he dropped a number of footballs. The next week I had him
catch a number of footballs from me to get him ready a couple of hours before game
time. He caught his first touchdown that day. I sometimes would over compensate
and coach him harder because he was my brother and didn’t want it to seem like
I was giving him special treatment. Having conversation with coaches over the
years one conscientious was its hard to coach kids you can’t root for. Matt was
the ultimate kid you could root for. He played hard all the time. Coaching him
in high school meant more to me than he knows and helped me become a better
coach.
In the 4th quarter of this tough physical defensive battle Newtown connected on a 21 yard FG from Devin O’Connell making the score 10-2. I found it appropriate that the final touchdown was scored by Jarred Dunn. Jared is the youngest of four brothers whom I am sure if you asked has many stories competing tooth and nail with his them at everything. Dunn score pushed the lead to 17-2 and that is how it finished. Newtown winning their 14th game in this border war.
When thinking back to my unique experiences having four
brothers, I really think it molded how I coached players over the years. They
pushed me directly or indirectly 365 days a year growing up. They forced me to
adjust and adapt to all situations and conflicts. Taking on different roles
with each of my brothers is the basis in which I built my coaching philosophy. I
would like to thank them for that. We have busy lives now and the 4 of us
getting together is rare. Now whether it’s babysitting (my nickname is uncle
brutal), getting picked up from the train station or airport, or a ticket to a
ball game we have and will always be there for one another. So at the end of
the night we sat at Cover 2 and decided we would make Thanksgiving eve a new
tradition for the 4 of us. Of course in true rivals fashion we would need
stakes. So a year from now a body weight competitions results will be revealed.
I am sure it will be filled with insults and trash talk that will always come
straight from the heart. I guess it really does always have to be this way.
