Kick Off Thoughts: Scrimmages, Roster Sizes

by Tom Condardo

I figured I'd start the 2014 season with some random thoughts on a few things that struck me at the Masco scrimmage Saturday. We'll get to those in a bit.

As for the scrimmage, the Pioneers more than held their own against perennial powerhouse Masco. You can get the details of the matchup and check out my photos in the Villager on Wednesday.

For those of you who have been following the Gridblog, welcome back. For you newcomers, I'd like to start with brief intro. This is an update from something a posted last year but there are always new folks tuning in so I thought it might be worthwhile to tell you a little about myself.

I started the Gridblog in 2009 because I had a lot of what I thought was interesting material from the statistics I've put together and interviewing the coaches that I just couldn't fit into my Villager articles. The blog gave me the perfect vehicle to publish what I'd collected.

The response has been great. I've gotten hits from every state in the country and many foreign countries as well. In five years, the Gridblog has received over 89,000 page views.

But enough about me. Let's talk about me.

I'm starting my 37th year covering high school football. I started right out of college and have spent more than half my life prowling the sidelines, charting statistics, and badgering coaches for post game quotes. I've done it through the my 35 year corporate career in executive management, sales, quality, and corporate communications. For the past two years I've done it as part of my freelance commercial copy writing business (www.condardowriting.com) - yes, that's a blatant call to action for anyone in need of content creation.

I began in 1976 freshly graduated from Suffolk University's College of Journalism as a full time reporter/ad sales rep/gopher for the North Reading Transcript. I banged out my first season of articles on the Hornet football team using a manual Royal typewriter which was out of date even then (see below - that's an actual photo of my desk back then). I left the full time employ of the paper in 1977 to begin my slog through corporate life but agreed to continue to cover North Reading football. That continued through 1986 when I took a hiatus because of time constraints.

"Modern" Reporter's Workstation - 1976

I moved to Lynnfield in 1989 and ended my two year sabbatical to cover the Pioneers. That began my quarter century of covering Pioneer football.

In the early 90's, I spent more hours than I care to count trolling the Wakefield and Lynnfield libraries combing through back editions of the Item and Villager to compile a statistical history of Lynnfield High football. That will answer your question of "how does he know that?" when I throw out that the Pioneers scored their 300th all time passing touchdown (which they did last year), or their 900th rushing TD and 500th PAT (which will both happen this season) or that a certain player now ranks Xth in all time Lynnfield scoring.

Being a statistical geek, let me give you the numbers. I've now covered 376 games over 36 seasons. I haven't exactly been a good luck charm for either the Hornets or Pioneers. North Reading was 44-63-3 in the 11 years I covered them and Lynnfield has been 102-163-1 in my 25 seasons here (although 42-15 the past five years so things are definitely on the upswing). That's a combined 146-226-4 or less than stellar winning percentage of .388.

I did get to cover two Super Bowls (1979 at Boston College with North Reading and 2012 at Gillette with the Pioneers). The Pioneers also took me to four other playoff games (2009 vs Austin Prep, 2012 vs Amesbury, last year with Stoneham and Bedford).

I've worked with seven coaches, most of whom have been wonderfully accomodating which makes doing this job possible. I figure I've covered close to 500 players over the years. I know I've covered children of some of them. I don't think I've seen any grandkids yet, but unfortunately, I believe that is now a mathematical possibility.

I have to tell you that writing about winning years is easier, but finding the many positives as a team struggles through a tough season is extremely rewarding as well.  I've actually been more impressed with many of the players that toiled for losing squads. The drive and dedication of the those players I covered on teams that were totally outmanned against much larger Cape Ann League teams has been truly inspiring. The most fun I have is watching gangly, enthusiastic freshmen pay the price, work hard, and grow into juniors and seniors who fight for every yard and tackle. Win or lose, that's what high school football is all about.

Ok enough. Let's get this show on the road.

Scrimmages
These practice events are invaluable tools for coaches and players to get ready for the season. They are a bit of a confusing nightmare for reporters and parents. The players - now over 70 of them - wear their practice jerseys, so have no identifying marks as to who the heck they are. Trying to chart the action, I resort to asking players or coaches on the sideline, or I listen for the players who call out "Nice run Jon or Jake or Ryan." That doesn't work as well when they get into nicknames. For example, I'm pretty sure I know who "Cheese" is but you can never be sure.

Throwing a degree of difficulty in the mix Saturday was the fact that Masco didn't have the yard markers up so finding out where we were on the field presented another challenge. I did get pretty good at counting by tens fairly quickly.

However, those are minor discomforts which are made up for by actually watching football again. And don't worry parents, they'll have game jerseys by the opener on September 6.

Roster Sizes
And speaking of the kids, there were close to 160 players on the field Saturday. Masco had 94, coach Neal Weidman told me, and they were all grades 10-12. The Pioneers had around 60 suited up. Which brings me to the point I've been making the last few years. Yes I know I sound like a crotchety old man who talks about walking to school uphill both ways in the snow, but these strong numbers are a relatively new phenomena to Lynnfield football.

In 1995, the Pioneers suited up 15 varsity players in a 24-6 loss to Pentucket. Coach Scott Brennan was quoted as saying he wasn't going to throw any of the nine freshmen that made up the rest of his 24 man roster "into the fire."

As recently as 2004, Bill Adams sent 23 players into battle against Wilmington - a non-surprising 34-6 loss. For most of the 2000's the average starting roster size was between 30-35. Football is a game of numbers, and the fact that the Pioneers have been enjoying a surge in that area has contributed to the success they've enjoyed recently.

Paul Sobolewski, the outgoing coach at Georgetown, talked about what a disadvantage it was for his Royals to play in the Cape Ann League and he hoped Georgetown might play teams more their size. He summed up the problem in this quote to Joshua Boyd in the Georgetown Record.

"When you have injuries and you're going against a Division 5 or Division 6 team, they face the same problems you face. It's not as daunting as facing a Lynnfield that has 80 kids in the program and are five deep at every position."

The numbers are only slightly exaggerated, but to Pioneer coaches Adams and Brennan who struggled to adequately man teams in the 90's and 2000's, that quote is almost unfathomable.

That's it for now. Check back later for more.