Ruden Sports News

As we continue our bracket polls, for a new contest I want to ask you all a simple question: which field or stadium is the best place in the FCIAC to watch a game.

I have put together, with the help of Heart Connecticut’s Scott Ericson, 12 locations. Certainly a poll such as this is highly subjective. I had an initial list of 14 and then consulted with Scott for a second opinion. We were pretty much in exact agreement.

Before some of you contest the final choices, here is how decisions were made. First, the location not only has to be nice but also has to offer good views. Darien and Norwalk have great baseball fields, but they are hard places to really see the action.

Second, the venues had to be on campus, though we made two exceptions for New Canaan and Ludlowe baseball because they play all home games at their parks and they are terrific venues. Cubeta Stadium would certainly have made the list but it is only used for the FCIAC semifinals and finals.

Terry Connors Rink and Darien’s football stadium were the final cuts. We also limited each school to two venues. Staples baseball, soccer and field hockey fields were all on the final list and combined into one complex. Same with St. Joseph’s fields.

We gave byes to schools with more than one venue and also placed them on different sides of the bracket.

So this is my list of 12 venues. We will hold the play-in voting until noon on Wednesday, with the quarterfinals starting Thursday, the semifinals Sunday night and the final a week from Wednesday.

If you don’t agree with all the choices, feel free to post a comment for debate. And now we start the road to find out your favorite FCIAC venue.