Tag: Connecticut

Tale of the Tape: Team Stats – Notre Dame vs. NC State

This could be a tough one for the Irish.

Notre Dame knows that if it wants to win the national championship, it will have to beat the best of the best. That includes NC State, its opponent in the Sweet 16 and the top seed in the Bridgeport Regional. The Irish already defeated the Wolfpack once this season, so you better believe the Wolfpack will be more focused on this matchup than ever. If you look at the below chart, that’s not great news for the Irish:

Look how highly the Wolfpack rank in a bunch of these categories. As good as the Irish are in their own right and consequently have been able to match up well with other opponents, it’s no wonder they celebrated so much after winning the teams’ previous meeting. With the intensity taken up another level in the NCAA Tournament, the Irish will have even more work cut out for them than before. A lot will need to go right for the recent past to repeat itself.

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FBS teams Notre Dame has losing record against

The Irish don’t lead every head-to-head matchup.

As winning a tradition that Notre Dame has, that tradition hasn’t always shined through. In fact, there are some schools that the Irish have lost to more times than they’ve beaten. A few other teams have beaten the Irish the only time they’ve faced them, and still others have more than one victory without having lost at all. Given how big the Irish are in more ways than one, that’s a sense of pride for anyone.

Who are the lucky few that can say with certitude that they have the upper hand on Notre Dame? For our purposes, we’ll narrow it down to the programs currently competing at the Football Bowl Subdivision level. Quick shoutout to the teams that never will have to worry about losing this distinction because they either don’t play in the Irish’s division anymore or they no longer exist. Those programs are Yale, Knox, Chicago and Great Lakes Navy.

Now, here are the FBS programs that have true bragging rights over the Irish:

UConn victorious against Lady Vols in Hartford, 75-56

UConn is victorious against the Lady Vols in Hartford, 75-56.

No. 7 Tennessee (19-4, 8-2 SEC) lost its third consecutive road game Sunday.

No. 10 UConn defeated Tennessee, 75-56, at XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

The Huskies (15-4, 9-0 Big East) scored the first 14 points of the third quarter. UConn opened a 46-25 advantage with 6 minutes, 17 seconds left in the third quarter.

Connecticut outscored Tennessee, which has lost three of its last four games, 23-11, in the third quarter.

Jordan Horston led Tennessee with 26 points and was the only Lady Vol to post double figures in the scoring column. She also had eight rebounds and three assists.

Rae Burrell scored nine points for Tennessee.

The Huskies’ Azzi Fudd led all scorers with 25 points. Aaliyah Edwards and Tennessee transfer Evina Westbrook scored 14 points each for Connecticut.

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Connecticut angler’s catfish record revoked; state issues apology

A Connecticut angler credited with shattering the state’s white catfish record last month has had that recognition withdrawn.

A Connecticut angler credited with shattering the state’s white catfish record last month has had that recognition withdrawn.

Ben Tomkunas caught the 21.3-pound catfish Aug. 20 at Coventry Lake. Days later, the Bureau of Natural Resources declared Tomkunas the new record holder.

“This was a tough one to verify as Channel Cats and White Cats, especially when so large, look very similar,” the agency stated. “[But] with multiple sets of expert eyes, we confirm the new state record.”

Apparently, debate continued as to whether the fish, which was released, might have been improperly identified. On Monday, the Bureau of Natural Resources announced that the decision had been reversed by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

The state record, therefore, still stands at 12.75 pounds.

“Due to questions raised both internally at DEEP and by outside sources, DEEP is recalling its initial declaration of a new state record white catfish caught in Coventry Lake on August 20th,” the Bureau of Natural Resources announced via Facebook. “Without the ability to examine the actual fish, identification is left to still images and videos, which have proven to be ambiguous and inconclusive to definitively identify the species of catfish in this case.

“To maintain the integrity of the state record dataset, we are reversing the initial announcement that this 21.3 pound fish was the new state record White Catfish. We apologize for this error.”

Tomkunas, who was fishing for carp when the catfish struck, said it “ran like a 30-inch striped bass.”

If the fish was, in fact, a white catfish, it was of world-record size. The current all-tackle world record, set in Oakdale, Ca., in 2005, stands at 19 pounds, 5 ounces.

Angler fishing for carp lands pending world-record catfish

A Connecticut angler has shattered the state record for white catfish and Ben Tomkunas’ catch also is a pending world record.

A Connecticut angler has shattered the state record for white catfish and Ben Tomkunas’ catch also is a pending world record.

“This was a tough one to verify as Channel Cats and White Cats, especially when so large, look very similar,” Connecticut Fish and Wildlife stated last week on Facebook. “With multiple sets of expert eyes, we confirm the new state record.”

Tomkunas, 25, was night fishing for carp earlier this month at Coventry Lake when the 21.3-pound white catfish ingested a boilie bait and ran “like a 30-inch striper,” Tomkunas told Field & Stream.

https://www.facebook.com/CTFishAndWildlife/posts/4180167865353603

“It was the craziest fight. When we got it on the shore, we said ‘Holy moly!’ ”

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The previous state-record white catfish weighed 12.75 pounds. The current all-tackle world record, set in Oakdale, Ca., in 2005, stands at 19 pounds, 5 ounces.

The International Game Fish Assn., which keeps world records for most species, typically waits weeks or months before announcing a new record.

–Images courtesy of Connecticut Fish and Wildlife

Massive bear has perfect reaction to close people encounter

Footage showing a large black bear pausing behind a bush to avoid detection by people exiting a house has generated varied responses on social media.

Footage showing a large black bear pausing behind a bush to avoid detection by people exiting a house has generated varied responses on social media.

The video, sent to WFSB Channel 3 by a resident of Avon, Conn., shows the bear avoiding a potential conflict by waiting until both people rounded a corner before continuing its journey.

“What a sweet bear to wait for them to leave,” reads one of dozens of comments beneath the WFSB Tweet.

But it was a retweet by primate researcher Alicia Rich that generated the most engagement, with an introduction implying that humans could learn plenty from the bear’s behavior.

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“This is how most human-wildlife interactions go,” Rich tweeted. “They see us, we don’t see them, they avoid us, we go about our business. Keep that mind every time some crazy escalation incident goes viral.”

Rich’s tweet garnered thousands of likes and retweets, and inspired dozens of comments. The most popular was a basic observation: “The way that bear carefully backed away when it saw the humans should be an example to us all of what to do when encountering wildlife.”

Close behind, however, was this: “Hence the advisory to prioritize de-escalating the encounter. Everyone (even bears) just wants to go back home safe.”

More social commentary: “The bear is better at social distancing than lots of people I see out there.”

One person wondered what would have happened had the people exiting the house turned and saw the bear. Thankfully, because of the bear’s natural instincts, we’ll never know.

–Image courtesy of WFSB Channel 3

Connecticut postpones winter high school sports until mid-January

Winter high school sports in Connecticut have been postponed until at least mid-January amid a statewide spike in positive COVID-19 cases.

Winter high school sports in Connecticut have been postponed until at least the middle of January amid a statewide spike in positive COVID-19 cases.

The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) announced on Tuesday following a vote by its Board of Control that practices for winter sports, including basketball, hockey, indoor track, swimming, wrestling and cheer and dance, would begin on Jan. 19, 2021.

Practices for winter high school sports in Connecticut were originally scheduled to begin next week, with competition beginning on Dec. 7. The CIAC’s postponement comes after Gov. Ned Lamont’s office banned the playing of high-risk youth sports such as wrestling for the remainder of 2020 earlier in November.
The CIAC says it will continue to remain in collaboration with Connecticut’s Department of Public Health, the governor’s office and state medical society’s Committee on the Medical Aspects of Sports leading up to the scheduled Jan. 19 start date for winter sports practices.
“CIAC Interscholastic athletics are an education-based experience that maintains in-person learning and the health and safety of our school communities as our top priority,” the CIAC said in a statement. “Today’s action supports our member schools while they continue to manage rising COVID numbers within their communities and experience widespread movements to distance learning.”
Connecticut has experienced a COVID-19 spike the last two weeks, as its seven-day rolling coronavirus positivity rate average has risen from 3.6% on Nov. 2 to 5.53% on Nov. 16.

UCONN suspends football season

The school becomes the first FBS program to suspend its season due to COVID-19

Until today, college football programs at the FBS level dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic by adjusting schedules and in some instances moving to conference-only play.

That changed on Wednesday with the University of Connecticut becoming the first FBS program to shutter its doors for the upcoming season.

Connecticut head coach Randy Edsall confirmed that fact to ESPN, and the school released a statement on their website. According to athletic director David Benedict: “After receiving guidance from state and public health officials and consulting with football student-athletes, we’ve decided that we will not compete on the gridiron this season. The safety challenges created by COVID-19 place our football student-athletes at an unacceptable level of risk.”

Edsall outlined that the athletes were consulted in making the decision: “We engaged and listened to the concerns of our football student-athletes and feel this is the best decision for their health, safety, and well-being. Our team is united in this approach and we will use this time to further player development within the program and gear ourselves to the 2021 season.”

The players themselves released a statement:

As a team we are in full support of the decision to not compete in 2020.  We have many health concerns and not enough is known about the potential long term effects of contracting COVID-19. Additionally, we have not had the optimal time to train mentally & physically to be properly prepared to compete this season.  We love this game and love competing.  We came to campus in the beginning of July knowing there would be challenges presented by the pandemic but it is apparent to us now that these challenges are impossible to overcome.

This season was set to be an interesting one for the program, as UCONN was becoming an independent after spending the past 15 seasons as a member of the Big East/American Athletic Conference. There was already massive uncertainty in place over the team’s schedule as a result. Games against Illinois, Indiana, Maine and Mississippi have already been taken off the schedule by those schools’ respective conferences and contests against North Carolina and Virginia were no longer set in stone.

Instead, the Huskies become the first FBS program to look to the future and forgo playing during the pandemic.

Longhorns Profile Snapshot: No. 7 Tarik Black

LonghornsWire will be looking at each scholarship player listed on the Texas roster. Today, we will be looking at senior WR Tarik Black.

Going into the 2020 football season, LonghornsWire will be looking at each scholarship player listed on the Texas roster.

Over the summer, each profile will cover where the player is from, how recruiting websites rated them coming out of high school, and what role they will play for Tom Herman this season.

Today, we will be looking at senior wide receiver Tarik Black.

Tarik Black, Wide receiver

Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press, Detroit Free Press

Height: 6-3 / Weight: 215

Class: Senior

Hometown: Hamden, Conn.

High School: Cheshire Academy

HS ranking (247Sports): Four-star / No. 194 overall / No. 28 position / No. 1 in-state

HS ranking (Rivals): Four-star / No. 76 overall / No. 11 position / No. 1 in-state

Analysis: Losing Devin Duvernay and Collin Johnson is going to hurt Texas this season but graduate transfer Tarik Black should help the losses. Coming from Michigan, the wide receiver has underperformed during his time in Ann Arbor thanks to underwhelming quarterback play.

Black’s junior year was disappointing, only having 25 catches for 323 yards and a touchdown. After being a four-star prospect out of high school and the top player in the state of Connecticut, Black has not reached his potential quite yet.

Hopefully, Sam Ehlinger is able to unlock his ability during the 2020 season. Texas was in desperate need of reinforcements at the wide receiver position. With Black coming down to Austin, Mike Yurich should have an experienced receiver at his disposal for the next two seasons.

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Three star offensive tackle from Connecticut puts Texas in top eight

2021 three-star OT Tristan Bounds has announced his top eight, with the Longhorns making the cut. Bounds was offered on April 22.

2021 three-star offensive tackle Tristan Bounds has announced his top eight, with the Longhorns making the cut. A top-ranked player from the state of Connecticut, Bounds could be looking at leaving the northeast.

Continue reading “Three star offensive tackle from Connecticut puts Texas in top eight”