Whaler Nation

I've been talking about going to a high school football game all year. I've wanted to go, I've been eager to go, but I've never quite made it. Then yesterday I read all the stories in The Day about three local teams in semifinal games last night, and I was sold.

And Bill was too. We went to the CIAC Class M high school football semifinal playoff game at Cannamela Field in our very own New London, Connecticut.

The mighty New London Whalers were state champions in Class SS last year (that's extra-small, for those of you not in the know, in Connecticut, an extra-small state), before moving up to class M this fall.

When we got there, it was 6-0, bad guys. Before we found a good place to watch, New London was losing 12-0.

But although it was cold -- and we were out on our deck in t-shirts just the other day -- it was a lovely 1st of December night, and great to be out and about.

AND, there was a full moon. And a Schleckah.

Our friend Owen, who covers high school sports for The Day, recommended, and I quote: "if you go to Cannamela for the game (and you should; it is my favorite high school football venue, hands down) make sure you spend some time in between the bleachers and the snack shack. The players walk up that hill to go the locker room at halftime and it's cool to see them walk through the crowd. It's a wicked fun place to watch a game, if you've never been."
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He was right; it was fun up there. The bad guys came through there, too, but we were nice to them.

And the kids were adorable.

At halftime the New London crowd was depressed, but the marching band lifted our spirits. Look at the conductor, in the lower right corner. Who could be depressed with such a lovely band leader leading the band? Nobody, that's who.

The teams came back out, the bad guys kept scoring on the poor Whalers in the second half, and there was only one thing to do . . .

. . . get in the interminable line . . .

. . . for popcorn.

It was worth it, though. The popcorn was awesome.

As was the beverage from my magic bucket.

In the end, though, the Wildcats from Bethel -- which doesn't even rhyme with anything, except Ethel -- prevailed.
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Get 'em next year, Whalers.