You asked for it, you got it. Another edition of everyone’s favorite, Hey Transcript Land.
No Kim Cunniff. No Nikki Panciocco. Seven new starters. I thought this was the year that the Porkers were ripe for the picking. What’s their secret?
In what would be a rebuilding year for most of the rest of the planet, the Walpole field hockey team has ripped off nine straight wins to start the season by a 52-3 count. How do they do it? Well, funny you should call the Porkers ripe for the picking because rumor has it that sometime in the 1980s, Sue Brainard and Penny Calf planted a Porker tree in a secret location on Common Street. Every year in the late summer, the tree blooms and Walpole harvests only the best field hockey players that the Bay State Conference has to offer. It’s either that or a combination of talented and driven athletes, knowledgeable and dedicated coaches, a superior youth program and unmatched tradition. But I’m still looking for that tree.
How fired up are you for October 18?
Very fired up. I mean who isn’t for Jean-Claude Van Damme’s birthday. Oh, perhaps you are referring to a little football game that’s going on over at Murray Field? Yeah, I guess there might be some interest in that locally as well.
But before the hype machine goes into overdrive for the colossal Norwood-Walpole football matchup in two weeks, both teams need to take care of business this weekend. For the Rebels, that shouldn’t be much of a problem against a winless Brookline team, but the Mustangs will have their hands full taking on the unbeaten BSC Carey-leading Rockets in Needham tonight. Certainly, the showdown loses a little of its luster if Norwood comes in with two losses.
Two intriguing things about this year’s contest. First of all, it shapes up as a pure battle of strength against strength as the Rebels bring in Ryan Izzo, Troy Salvatore and their vaunted rushing attack to face a Norwood front seven that has stifled the run at season. Then, there is the presence of a bye week this season leading into the game, which will give the coaching staffs plenty of time to prepare some new wrinkles. It has the potential to be the best the rivalry has seen since Norwood’s 14-7 triumph of unbeatens in 2000 en route to the Super Bowl title.
There looked like there were some excited Mustangs last week when the Norwood High girls soccer team ended their jinx against Dedham. Who do you think was the happiest to see the curse reversed?
While the odds on favorite would have to be ultra-enthusiastic Mustang coach Jay Dupuis, we are going to with an upset and say it was long-suffering Norwood parent Tommy Ryan. When the Norwood scored its first win over the Marauders in more than a decade, the Mustangs seniors had only played in six of the losses while Dupuis, in his third year, had only overseen four. On the other hand, as the patriarch of the Norwood’s No.1 soccer dynasty Ryan had endured many more defeats watching daughters Shay, Tayla, Courtney and Cory toil for the basement-dwelling Marauders run up against the Herget power. It must have felt might good to give that postgame handshake to his friendly rival in Dedham, Marauder coach Don Savi, as a gracious winner instead of a gracious loser.
And while we are on the subject of Mustang soccer, it was easy to ignore the swamp-like nature of Father Mac’s Field when Norwood was irrelevant, but now the frequent unplayability is affecting me, which we can’t have. Father Mac’s is quickly challenging the front diamond at Memorial Park for most frustrating weather-casualty venue in Transcript Land.
Now that Kurkjian’s gone, are you finally going to win a football picks title or what?
I’ll admit that I took a beating in the picks department during the Adam Kurkjian era in Transcript Land, but can you blame me? The man takes high school football geekdom to historical levels. This is my job, not my life. At least most of the time. Apparently, my reputation precedes me as his successor, Keith Pearson, began talking smack before the season had even started. Yes, my new nemesis currently holds a one-game lead in the standings but I am determined to defend the honor of the editor’s chair this fall, even if it means using my ultimate power to change his picks.
A much fuller slate for the first weekend of October than we have seen in September. If you are a Marauder fan, you have a busy day ahead of you as its imperative to cash in on a rare triple-header opportunity today. You can begin by seeing the Dedham girls soccer team take on a talented Wellesley squad over on Rustcraft at 3:45. Depending on where your loyalties lie, you can either take over early to head over to Stone at the half to make to 4:45 field hockey start against the Raiders, or just catch the tail end while the lights warm up for the 7:30 football kickoff against Framingham.
While we reshuffle the deck a little in the Power Poll, with Rosh Hashana and Wednesday’s wet weather, there really wasn’t a lot of action to shake things up much. While our five hold strong, there are five other squads that have yet to lose this fall circling like Power Poll vultures.
5. Norwood girls soccer (7-1-1) – After going 1-1-1 against a tough trio in Wellesley, Dedham and Weymouth, the Mustangs face a trip to unbeaten Framingham on Monday. It’s gut-check time.
4. Norwood football (3-1) – Do you think that the Marauders could have Jhorges Antoine back for Thanksgiving Day?
3. Ursuline volleyball (9-0) – The Bears usually fly under the Power Poll radar until tournament time, but they are making themselves impossible to ignore.
2. Walpole football (4-0) – This stretch of Newton North, Wellesley and Brookline isn’t doing much to harden up the Rebels for Mustangs in two weeks.
1. Walpole field hockey (9-0) – Kudos to coach Jen Quinn for the best relief job in Walpole since the bullpen days of Sean McDermott.
WILD CARD -- Walpole swimming (5-0) – Rebels trying to prove the theorem of established depth plus impact freshmen equals Herget title.
(Tom Fargo is Sports Editor of the Daily News Transcript. He can be reached at (781) 433-8372 or tfargo@cnc.com)
