Speed Demons

Hello again folks, it’s been quite some time since the inspiration bug has bitten me. But, alas, the season is getting closer and closer, and visions of touchdowns are starting to dance in my head.

I’ve been thinking a lot about speed lately. UE had a guy named Jordan Thomas last year, and he is now working his way up the depth chart at Rutgers. I believe you may be able to see him play this evening (9/2) as a matter of fact. While Mr. Thomas was quite impressive on the football field, it was his exploits on the track that caught my eye. That would be an absolute blistering 10.3 handheld 100m time. For those of you who don’t follow track, to say that is amazing at the high school level is one of the bigger understatements you’ll ever hear. Now, admittedly, I’ve come to question this time, and even his multiple 10.4’s that he did, as it seems like a guy that fast could win the NYS Federation championship, which he didn’t. Still, he did do a 10.65 FAT time, which is not far behind. The funny thing about this is that a couple guys who don’t know their rear end from a hole in the ground (and one of them is applying for the job of telephone pole installer) were trying to say that JT’s speed was nothing terribly special at the D1 level, and they even used the term “dime a dozen”.

From the point of view of the non-coach but not-so-casual follower, here is how I rate speed in football. First, you have the “good speed” guys. Most high school teams will have some number of these guys. Running an optimal 100m, these guys might clock in the mid to high 11’s. These guys are VERY useful if they possess good football skills and are mentally capable of doing the things that need to be done. There’s “good speed”, and then there’s “elite speed”. You’ll find a couple of these elite guys on your schedule, but not many. These are the guys who visibly stand apart from the pack. If they get a step, you can see the difference quite easily. These guys might run 11 flat or very low 11’s. I don’t think Onondaga and Michigan star and current Indianapolis Colt Mike Hart ran track, but if he did, I might guess he’s in this range, maybe even on the slower end of it (though on the quicker end if you’re talking 10-20 yards). This “elite speed” group is the group that the boneheads were mistaking JT for, where in reality, he falls into a 3^rd group.

I’ll call this the “near world class speed” group. These guys are whispering closer and closer to the sprinters you see on TV in the big world level competitions. Give JT a professional coach, have him concentrate only on track, and he might just compete with some of those guys.

Interestingly, I’ve had debates with the guys saying JT’s speed was nothing to write home about, and I’ve also had debates with guys saying that if JT were in class C or D, that he would have blown away Hart’s state records. I strongly disagree with both.

Let me take the latter first…..while JT’s speed would be devastating at the small school level, my view is that it would really be tough to distinguish it from the “elite speed” group. The point is that either group is WAY ahead of the average guy on the field. If the rest of the kids on that field are capable of say 11.6 to 13.0 in the 100m, it really is of little consequence if you are capable of 11.0 or 10.5. You are gone with a little bit of greenery in front of you. And we’ve seen all kinds of “elite speed” kids at the small school level (and actually at least one with “near world class speed”).

I think the Division 1 college level is an entirely different story. Instead of facing kids that can go 11.6 to 13.0, you’re up against MEN that can do maybe 10.8 to 12.0. Suddenly there is a great big difference between 11.0 and 10.5. JT, speedwise anyway, would not look much different than Walton’s James Armstrong or even BG’s Dustin Ross at the small school level. Any of those guys break a huge one with an opening. However, playing in the big leagues, JT would far stand out from those guys, as he would break open plays there that the others might be caught from behind on.

For a little history, I think we’ve been exposed to some very good speed in our small school divisions. Mike Chrystie from Oxford (senior in 2000) is certainly the first to come to mind. He ran track only one season, and ran a hand held 10.4 on his way to winning the NYS Federation 100m title. He was obviously uncatchable in the open, and he went on to play for Colgate. Armstrong from Walton (senior in 2002) was probably the next fastest, as I believe he ran at least one 10.6 handheld, and he is currently playing semipro for Oneonta’s New York Stallions (is that like the LA Angels of Anaheim?). I’d put Armstrong square in the middle of the “near world class speed” and the “elite speed” categories. Other “eliters” we’ve seen include Ross from BG, Marc Sweet from Sidney, and Delhi’s own Seth Haight (senior in 1991).

On that Delhi note, Haight is probably the fastest Bulldog football player I’ve watched. I never saw him run the 100m, but he was a star in the 110 Hurdles, just missing the school record at 14.7, and also approaching 22 feet in the long jump. I’m biased because I played with him, but I just loved watching him play, not just for his speed, but also he could leap like a gazelle (once while sitting at the traffic light in Delhi he ran up and jumped all the way over the hood of our Chevy Corsica without touching it….my mom was shocked to say the least). Haight set what was at the time either a state record or very close to it with 988 receiving yards as a junior. John Smith (senior in 2004) was another “elite speed” guy, running 11.3 100m as a junior before a broken leg pretty much ended his Delhi track career, and took away half his senior football season. Smith was an outstanding DB, and also had a few very long TD receptions to boot. While we’ve had a couple other guys approach that, one other player that strikes my curiousity is Brenton Hood (senior in 2006). Hood ran track, but had 100m times looking more like the “good speed” level. I don’t think I saw anything better than 11.8 or 11.9. Take a look at him in football though, and it seemed like something else entirely. Go back to the 2006 Deposit photos in my archives, and you’ll see 2 pictures…..in the 1^st there are about 5 Deposit defenders in hot pursuit (7^th and 8^th pictures from the bottom). In the 2^nd, Hood is about 8 yards ahead of the closest. Just interesting that his football speed looked so much better than his track speed. I’d love to go into other Delhi speedsters, but, alas, this is getting VERY long.

I will say that I hope we can have some “good speed” at least step up this year. Last year we really struggled to score TD’s, and it showed in the close games we had. We were bailed out time and again by our superb defense. I hope we can find some guys that can not only hit the hole well and get some first downs, but also take the occasional sprint to the end zone. If we can find that and couple it with Fletcher’s pounding abilities, I think we can put some better light on the scoreboard this season. If not, then, well, I sure hope the defense comes together again! I’m hoping for the best!

This is also that time of year when I make my picks for champions, both in the section and in the state. Perhaps this year I’ll add a little extra sugar to the tea, and try picking the division champions as well. Why not, I finally made my 0.800 on picks last year, and, even better, I picked all 8 sectional finalists correctly, though I’ll admit I did get only two of the champions correct. Still…not too shabby.

For the 2010 season, I’m going with…..

AA – Corning over Binghamton – newly merged program of 2 great class A programs, I hope they can find some chemistry and have some success at the state level before the low level of competition in that division brings them back down, though last year I had hopes that UE and Bingo were on the way up, I’m not sure….

A – Maine Endwell over Southside – this division suffered HUGE losses with the merger of Cornings East and West

B – Johnson City over Oneonta – tough to pick this one, not sure what everyone has back

C – Forks (surprise, surprise) over Sidney – I believe Forks returns quite a bit from their state semifinalist; as for Sidney, Sportsboy’s famous 8^th graders are now seniors, though many of them are not around anymore, but I still think Umbra is enough to make that team a good quality team, and I’m also picking them to beat Walton this weekend…

D – not gonna do it, sorry!

Divisions:

I – Corning

II – Maine Endwell

III – Oneonta

IV – Johnson City

V – Forks

VI – Whitney Point (yes, Virginia)

VII – Winchestertonfieldville

VIII – Tioga

Statewide:

Yowser, this is going to be ugly I’m sure. Last year I didn’t get a single finalist correct. Some weren’t bad picks, others were terrible. Let’s see what this year brings….

AA – Orchard Park over Monroe Woodbury (VI continues to dominate)

A – Sweet Home with the trifecta, this time over Nyack (and VI continues to dominate)

B – Nanuet over Westhill (the east finally comes to play)

C – Forks over Dobbs (Forks finally returns to the winners’ circle)

D – Winchestertonfieldville over Mayberry (played in front of 127 fans and 234 cattle)

And, last but not least, if anyone happens to still be reading, for this week’s picks…..Newburgh over Bingo, Candor over SVE, Trumansburg over Edison, Whitney Point over Norwich, Vestal over Waverly, Groton over Lansing, Oneonta over Greene, Corning over Owego, Odessa over Glen, Tioga over Newark Valley, Oxford over Newfield, ME over Dryden, Sidney over Walton, EFA over Chenango Valley, Harpursville over Livingston Manor, Johnson City over Horseheads, St. Francis over UE, Forks over Windsor, Sus Valley over Moravia, Southside over Ithaca, Eldred over Deposit/Hancock, BG over UVE, and END over Seton. See you all tomorrow night!