The realities of the playoffs

If you follow me on social media, specifically Twitter, I was pretty worked up on Monday night as I tried to get into the Division IV boys' basketball semifinals at Merrimack Valley High School.

I arrived approximately midway through the first of two semifinal games, hoping to see the end of the first game before the Littleton-Woodsville game as the nightcap. However, when I got there, there was a large crowd outside the locked doors and nobody was being allowed in, since the gym was at capacity.

It was a bit frustrating on my part. I understood the reasons, but there was a person standing next to me in the lobby at MVHS with a ticket for the first game who couldn't get in either. And my biggest issue was that there was nobody coming out to tell people what was going on inside. The first game went to double-overtime, meaning the folks with tickets to the second game were left standing around (many outside) for longer than expected, with no access to bathrooms after a two-hour drive from the North Country. To me, this was a problem.

However, I also understand the situation the NHIAA and the tournament hosts, Merrimack Valley, were in.  By rule, they couldn't let anyone else into the gym and the only way to control that was to keep the doors locked. Better communication would've helped, but I do understand that they had to wait until the first game crowd was cleared out to let the second game crowd in.

Of course, a lot of people wondered why the game was held at Merrimack Valley to begin with. It's not a huge gym and the crowds for these games tend to be pretty large. The answer to the question is not as simple as one would think.

First and foremost, Merrimack Valley, like Newfound, which hosted the girls' semifinals, is a fairly central location, easily accessed off of Interstate 93 for teams coming from both the north and the south. That part makes perfect sense. They stepped up when other venues said they wouldn't host. They should be commended for that.

The bigger problem lies in that the NHIAA has not been able to get gym space from one of the best spots in the state to host such games, Plymouth State University. PSU is located right in the middle of the state, right off of Interstate 93, with a big gym, plenty of parking and a great atmosphere for the kids to play in. Before COVID, Plymouth State and Southern New Hampshire University were great spots to host tournaments, but since the pandemic, neither school has been willing to welcome the high school athletes back to their gyms. The University of New Hampshire, the biggest gym in the state, has given the NHIAA a single date so that the Division I and II championships can take place there, but they have also been reluctant to let the high school kids use the space. This includes for the swimming championships, which would have no home in the state with space for spectators if not for UNH.

The only one of the three state schools that has been happy to have the high school championships is Keene State, which hosted the D3 boys and girls last weekend. While it is a bit out of the way for much of the state, it is a great gym, with plenty of seating and parking and a pretty good atmosphere. And Colby-Sawyer came through with a gym to host the D4 championships this coming weekend.

From speaking to numerous people associated with the NHIAA, I know they want to be in Plymouth and they want to stay at UNH. In fact, they need to stay at UNH, as it is the only gym in the state able to hold all spectators that are expected at the DI boys' basketball finals. But for whatever reason, these schools seem reluctant to host the big high school events.

I don't understand the reasons why. These events are a great chance to showcase your school to hundreds of high school athletes in a short period of time. They get to see what the school has to offer and when it comes time for them to choose a school to attend, they might remember their time in the playoffs at your school. There's also a good chance to raise money through running concession stands and also to give students a chance to help manage events as part of their education. I see a ton of benefits for the colleges to host these events. And it would be great for the high school kids as well.

There are some great high school facilities throughout the state. Laconia High School has a fantastic stadium for hosting soccer or field hockey or football or lacrosse. Same thing for Bedford High School. The New Hampshire Fisher Cats offer their fantastic venue for the high school baseball championships every year. Pinkerton has a great gym for gymnastics, cheer and volleyball championships. But gyms that can handle such large events are few and far between and colleges not opening up their gyms to the high school championships is hurting the tournaments. 

Sure, I was upset when I couldn't get into the gym on Monday night, but I also understood the situation the NHIAA was in. There was no perfect answer and everyone involved was doing the best that they could to manage the tough situation. Wouldn't it be great if PSU would allow the NHIAA tournament back to its gym so these problems can become a thing of the past? 

Here's hoping it can happen. For everyone's benefit.

The Merrimack Valley gym was packed for both semifinal games on Monday night.

A few updates on the road to Paris

I have to admit, I was getting a bit nervous.

I've had the honor of covering four of the last five Olympic Games, including winter stops in Sochi, Russia, PyeongChang, South Korea and Beijing, China and a summer stop in Tokyo, Japan. Ahead of each of those Olympics, I have traditionally heard early on whether I've been granted credentials.

I remember prior to my first Olympics, I actually got the confirmation e-mail during high school football season (I was in the parking lot of the Burger King in North Conway after a Kennett football game, checking my e-mail since coverage is not great at the high school). That would have been in the fall of 2012, a year and a half ahead of the Olympics, which took place in February of 2014 (I was there, nine years ago at this time). The PyeongChang and Beijing timelines were pretty close to the same. 

The only Summer Olympics I have been to was in Tokyo, originally scheduled for 2020. I received my confirmation of credentials for those Games in December of 2018, again, about a year and a half out from the Olympics. Obviously, those Olympics were postponed by a year, but that's neither here nor there.

So, as the calendar turned to January, I was expecting to hear from the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee regarding my application for credentials for Paris in the summer of 2024. When the calendar turned to February, I began to think that maybe my application wasn't accepted. Truthfully, I would be understanding of such a situation, but figured they would at least notify people who applied if they were accepted or not.

I dropped an e-mail to the accreditation team at the USOPC inquiring as such. For those that don't know, the Paris 2024 folks will allocate a certain number of credentials to each country that is attending the Olympics and the country's Olympic committee makes the decisions on who to give those credentials to. After I applied for credentials for Sochi, I was interviewed by a journalist on behalf of the USOPC as to what my plans were, etc. I did not have an interview prior to PyeongChang and Beijing, but I am now under the impression that those interviews are for first-time applicants. I did have an interview for Tokyo, which I assume was because it was my first Summer Games application, so I wasn't expecting one for Paris.

The e-mail came back from the USOPC yesterday noting that they were still going through the applications and would be letting everyone know their status by the end of February. That put my mind at ease a little.

From talking to other journalists over the years, I have come to understand that, unofficially, if you are approved for credentials once, you are usually in the pipeline and accepted on your next applications. With Tokyo in my back pocket, it would stand that I should be approved for Paris, but I also have an understanding as to where weekly newspapers rank on the list of priorities for credential approval and that is near the bottom. I was truly surprised when I received Sochi credentials and I believe my Tokyo credential application was helped along by the fact that the guy who did my interview was someone I spent a lot of time with in PyeongChang and he saw the work that I put in.

I am hopeful that the application process will turn out the way I am hoping. After all, I did cover two Olympics during a pandemic, when many larger outlets chose to not make in-person coverage a priority.

On a related note, Paris 2024 announced today the "look of the Games" along with the new pictograms, which depict each sport and are all over merchandise and signage art the Olympics. Read that article here if you would like.

Paris is still not a guarantee for me, but if the credential application is accepted, I am leaning closer and closer to going, if for no other reason than to see the incredible opening ceremony they have planned.

Hopefully I'll know for sure in a few weeks.

Nine years ago today I was spending my first day at the Sochi Olympics. This is a shot from the bus window as I made my way up to the freestyle park.

The loss of a legend

One thing that I will always remember about Tom Underwood is his handshake. 

Sure, he won more than 500 games as a baseball coach at Plymouth Regional High School, coached thousands of kids from their debuts in organized baseball up through their high school careers, built successful feeder programs for the dominating Plymouth football and wrestling programs, was one of the first people enshrined into the New Hampshire Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, was a heck of a math teacher, raised three kids with his wonderful wife and had a hand in seemingly just about anything that went on in the Plymouth community over the last few decades.

But man, I can never forget that handshake. It felt like your hand was going to be crushed.

Coach Underwood passed away last week at the age of 72. Even though he had stepped down as the varsity baseball coach at Plymouth, he was still very active in the school and the community, keeping the books at basketball games, coaching junior high softball, helping with the local youth leagues. He wanted to do what he could to help the kids of the community and that he did. For more than four decades.

I look at the current crop of coaches at Plymouth and realize he had a hand in educating or coaching many of them, whether they played baseball for him like current baseball coach Mike Boyle or golf coach Gavin Brickley or football coach Chris Sanborn, or had him as a middle school math teacher or worked on the sidelines with him, like all three of the people mentioned above and then some. He left a legacy that continues to give and give to the community of Plymouth.

But still, that handshake, I can't stop thinking about it.

Coach Underwood also had a booming voice that you could hear any time he was near. He'd greet you with that firm handshake (there it is again) and ask a question about something you had in common. As Gavin told me last week when I talked to him about coach Underwood, "he knew not every kid was the same, he had to deal with kids differently and coach different to see them succeed in their role." It was the same when he had a conversation with you, he always seemed to have something that could apply to your life.

He was also the most knowledgeable baseball person I knew. He could give you stats and information from his teams from 30 years ago, but also could talk about how Mike Greenwell contributed to the 1986 Red Sox or the impact of a player like Shohei Ohtani on the sport he loved. Baseball is my favorite sport and I always enjoyed a conversation with coach Underwood because you came away learning something new.

Baseball was a passion for coach Underwood, but so was being there for the kids of the community, doing what he could to help make their lives better. 

Even though I knew he might crush my weakling hand, I always made it a point to shake coach's hand before or after I spoke to him following a game. I considered it an honor.

Coach Underwood was indeed a legend and he will be greatly missed by the Plymouth community, the New Hampshire baseball community and this simple sports reporter. 

The good news is, I can still feel that handshake.

Coach Tom Underwood stands with the captains from the 2015 season, his final season at the helm of the Plymouth baseball team.