Thanksgiving has always been my
favorite holiday. Whether I was a player, coach, or just a spectator, I have
always held the day in high regard. During the last three plus months of doing Traveling Coach I have based a lot of my
writing around family, football, and food. These three things are the most
important passions in my life. One of my favorite lines in Rocky 1 is when he
tells Adrian “too you its Thanksgiving but to me it’s Thursday”. I always
thought that line was funny but when I really thought about it at the time
Rocky had no family around him, his boxing career was floundering, and his diet
consisted of 5 raw eggs. Thanksgiving will never be just another Thursday. It’s
a chance for reunion, celebration, and gratitude for people you have in your
life.
Family:
Thanksgiving week always renews traditions. The last 12 years I have always
taken two specific weeks off—spring break in April with the kids and the entire
week of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving week constitutes one of the few times a year
we all get together. There are no expectations of gifts. The gift we give each
other is time. This year was no different. I was able to spend Wednesday with
my brothers, Thursday with my parents, Friday with Michelle and the kids, and
Saturday with my in-laws from Pennsylvania. Thanksgiving week as a coach is
always a time to see your football family as well home from college. This
aspect means a lot to coaches. Seeing former players doing well, and returning
to school to say hello and support the program validates your hard work. The
grind of a football season is hard but seeing your football family at those
times always helped push through to a finish strong.
Football:
Thanksgiving week in Connecticut
marks the end of the regular season before the beginning of the playoffs.
They’re playoff spots on the line, team goals to be met, and sometimes just the
pride of finishing with a victory. In 1996 Connecticut decided to have all
teams play an annual thanksgiving game. This replaced conference championship
games which were moved to the week prior. Now as much as I love thanksgiving football
I would love to see Connecticut go too having playoff games on Thanksgiving but
that is a topic for next week’s blog.
I was a part of the first Thanksgiving game at Immaculate against Notre Dame of
Fairfield. We were the only two Catholic Schools in the conference which is why
the pairing fit. The weather almost always played a part of it. The first year
the field was a sheet of ice, the second year was freezing temperatures with
harsh winds, and the third year was a pool of mud. My senior year after winning
that final game we slid through the rain soaked field and celebrated a victory
in our final games as seniors. The game was memorable but the conditions made
it unforgettable.
Now as spectator I went to three games during Thanksgiving week .Tuesday, I
attended New Milford High school and saw their annual rivalry game with New
Fairfield. It was a hard fought matchup won by New Fairfield 20-6. It was nice
to see some old players from my time at New Milford and be able to catch up. On
Wednesday I was joined by my brothers to see Newtown and Masuk have a defensive
struggle that saw Newtown come out on top 17-2. Having coached at Masuk last
season, it was also encouraging to see the development of the underclassmen
from last year’s team and how they become leaders. Thursday is meant for
family. There was no better way to go a Thanksgiving Day game then with my wife
and kids.
The Ansonia Chargers and The Naugatuck Greyhounds are a storied rivalry. It’s the
second longest rivalry in Connecticut. At Veterans Field on a brisk Thursday
morning we found our spot in the bleachers for the 120th meeting. Ansonia is a
perennial power in the state of Connecticut. They have appeared in 31 state
championships winning 20 of them and haven’t lost a conference game since 2010.
That loss almost a decade ago came at the hands of Naugatuck on Thanksgiving
Day. As we sat down I could hear the conversation of some of the people who
have probably been in the stands for a lot of these games. One man said there
are usually 8,000 people here and this is the sorriest crowd he’s ever seen. It
was definitely a late arriving crowd as we were an hour early and had no
trouble finding parking. In the back parking lot had a lot of tailgaters and
people standing on the steep hills on either side of side of the stands. Being
a down year for Naugatuck could have also contributed to the lighter attendance
numbers. That being said it still was a rivalry game and any other team in the state
would love to have this number in attendance at their games.
Ansonia didn’t take long to establish their dominance of Naugatuck on this
morning. They came out and played power football as is their calling card. The
Chargers jumped out to a 16-0 lead in the 1st quarter led by 5’7”
Shaykeem Harmon (203 yards rushing 3 TDS) who weaved his way in and out of Greyhound
defenders for the first two scores of the game. The second quarter was more of
the same with Ansonia putting up 30 more points. The scoring in the second
quarter came from the Cafaro family. Two rushing touchdowns by Tyler Cafaro and
twin brother Garrett’s scoop and score on a Naugatuck fumble was more than
enough to put this game away in the first half. Cold weather and 46-0 halftime
score was more than enough for one day. It was time to head to Newtown for some
food with the rest of the Mascolo family.
My last game of the week in a lot ways is my favorite. For the last 16 year’s Immaculate High School Alumni play in a touch football game at Mustang Valley Field. It is usually played the Saturday after Thanksgiving and around Christmas I usually start getting the soreness out of my legs. It’s a great chance to throw the ball around and make fun of each other a little bit. The part that makes it special is seeing all the guys together in person and talking about what is going on in our lives. Playing football together you are a part of special group. A group that played a sport where you practice more than you play and it’s a physical and mental grind every day. That builds a bond between teammates, coaches, and players. These days I am usually the oldest guy at the game and there is more players I have coached then played with. I make sure I catch at least one pass and a possible cheap shot on my brother John. The game usually ends one of two ways. Either the Mascolo brothers start to play tackle football or guys start to play Pippas coverage. Pippa’s coverage is when nobody is within 10 yards of the receiver, he walks in the end zone, and then we’ll…..it’s time to go to Pippa’s.
Food:
Food, although third on this priority list is a lot of times the basis for what gathers us together. Tuesday night after the New Milford/New Fairfield game me and former New Milford high school player Liam Kenny went to the dinner to enjoy some food, talk football, and discuss his future plans after College. Wednesday with my brothers we sandwiched the Masuk/Newtown Game with trip to Buffalo Bills and Cover 2. On Thanksgiving of course we enjoyed an outstanding Thanksgiving dinner prepared by my Mom. When I finished culinary school I wanted to start to contribute to the Thanksgiving meal. Having always been a fan of the food network, I found an idea on an Emeril Lagasse holiday show. Me and Michelle started to make a butternut squash and chorizo soup. For the last 18 years it has been a great chance to warm up after coming home from the cold Thanksgiving Day game. It’s something I am very proud of and my dad constantly reminds me every year that each soup I make knocks 20 dollars of what I owe in Johnson & Wales tuition.
Finally on Saturday after the Alumni game we headed to Pippa’s which has been tradition every year afterwards. Pippa’s is a Danbury institution. It has been the meeting place after all kinds of events. When I coached at Immaculate and Abbott Tech it’s where we went after Friday night or Saturday afternoon games and sometimes even drew up the following week’s game plans on napkins. The traditional community sports bar has always been built around two things, local sports and its wings. They have a ton of sauces for anybody’s taste buds however for my money their Gold Rush flavor is their best choice. I decide to order a dozen as I had done some many times as a young coach. The wings may not be as big as they used to be but the sauce is just as I remembered it a perfect combo of sweet honey mustard and spicy buffalo sauce. These wings are a 4 star recruit. They are the 5th year senior who feels like they have been there forever but are consistent and reliable.
Family, Football, and Food. Three staples in my Thanksgiving Week. I look forward to it every year and feel like it goes too fast. As I am finishing this blog its 352 days until next Thanksgiving……can’t wait!
