Determining CT’s All-State high school teams is no easy task
Soon after the announcement of the 90th annual New Haven Register AllState Football team in early January came a rather unpleasant Twitter assessment from a parent of an accomplished high school player.
“What a joke this list is. I guess local news folks are as biased, bought and paid for as national ones.”
The parent will remain anonymous here. Aggrieved moms and dads who believe their kid or their kid’s team did not receive proper recognition can be emotional in the moment.
Rest assured no hush money was paid to our Sean Bowley, Pete Paguaga or Mike Fornabaio for football selections rendered.
Still, complaints and questions that arrive annually following the announcement of our All-State teams do merit periodic explanation of how the GameTimeCT/Register selection process works. With the winter teams announced in recent days, it seems like a good time.
But let’s start with some omissions that didn’t age well.
As a Greenwich quarterback. Steve Young was not selected Register first team All-State. He was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and as Hartford Courant athlete of the 20th century by a state panel.
As a Xavier High quarterback, Will Levis was not selected Register first team. He is expected to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft this month.
Drew Pyne of New Canaan, who has transferred from Notre Dame to Arizona State, wasn’t Register first team. Note to ESPN: Dan Orlovsky of Shelton WAS on the Register first team.
“It’s a painstaking process,” said Joe Morelli, who selects the boys All-State
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods can thank good friend Justin Thomas for helping to extend his streak of consecutive cuts made at the Masters to a record-tying 23 on Saturday.
Woods was in danger of missing it for the first time as a professional when he resumed his second round in cold, driving rain and bogeyed his final two holes. That left Woods at 3 over and tied for 52nd, while the top 50 and ties make the cut.
Moments after Woods signed his scorecard, though, Thomas missed a short par putt at the 17th, dropping him to 3-over and bringing everyone at that number inside the cut line. Thomas then bogeyed the 18th, ensuring Woods would play the rest the weekend and match Fred Couples and Gary Player for the longest streak of cuts made at the Masters.
“I’ve always loved this golf course, and I love playing this event,” Woods said before Thomas finished. “I hope I get a chance to play this weekend — I’m sorry, I got a chance to play on the weekend. I wish I get a chance to play two more rounds.”
Woods got his wish, while Thomas’ bogey-bogey finish sent him home instead.
The second round was suspended Friday when storms swept over the course, bringing down three large pine trees near the 16th green. Nobody was hurt when they fell, and workers had them cleared by the time play resumed Saturday.
Woods was 2 over with seven holes left when he returned to the course, and his birdie at the par-5 15th gave him some breathing room. But a wayward tee shot at the 17th forced Woods to lay up short of the bunker, leading to bogey, and a tee shot into the trees left of 18 forced him to hit his approach shot off the pine straw.
Woods came up short of the green, backed up his approach shot and twoputted for another bogey.
The weather wasn’t getting any better, though, and Thomas took the brunt of it. With rain driving so hard at the tough, uphill par-4 18th that he had to hit a fairway wood from 218 yards, Thomas went so far left he nearly landed among the patrons. His pitch shot checked up short, and another bogey resulted in a second-round 77 and a missed cut.
That allowed Thomas Pieters and Charl Schwartzel to join Woods in making the cut when it moved to 3 over.
Rory McIlroy won’t be there; he missed the cut after a second-round 77 on Friday left him 5 over for the championship. The runner-up a year ago will need to wait another year to take another crack at completing the career Grand Slam.