More on Byram Hills
-
- November
- 18
Here’s Eric Lebowitz checking in with his take on Byram’s state championship.
“First off, I want to congratulate Byram Hills on a state championship. It’s a tremendous accomplishment. Â
    Now, on the game…The combination of precipitation on Friday and Saturday, and the volume of play on the field made for a soccer game that looked a lot like slip n’ slide.
    The field conditions made Will Ogden’s goal even more impressive than it otherwise would have been. He dribbled probably 30 yards all told and beat two defenders in the process, quite a feat considering the field could have doubled as a mud wrestling pit in certain spots.
    I’m usually not one to criticize referees. I understand they have a hard job, especially when the game is as big as a state final. But the officiating in this game was poor, and I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t mention it here. I don’t think either team had an advantage because of the refereeing, but I got the sense that, because the calls were so inconsistent, the players were not sure which fouls would be called and which would be let go.Â
    Like I wrote in yesterday’s blog, every player I spoke to on Byram Hills said after losing in the Class A final last year, anything less than the state title would be a disappointment. Neither Byram Hills or its raucous fans left Oneonta disappointed.” Â
This entry was posted
on Sunday, November 18th, 2007 at 7:39 pm by Jake Thomases.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Share and Enjoy: del.icio.us Digg Furl Reddit Help | 
Print
| 
Email
GLORY TO THE GREATEST TEAM TO EVER WALK THROUGH THE HALLS 0F BYRAM HILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Who do you think would win….
Greeley or Byram?
I think it’s almost to clost to call but I would give the edge to Greeley. Any team that can beat Arlington can beat anybody. And even though Byram won states (and believe me I am taking nothing away from that), Greeley should have beat Vestal, the AA champs.
just to say, section 1 athletics is by far the most competitive section in new york..there are probably some section 1 teams that lost in sectionals that could have beaten some teams in regionals or even states. GO SECTION 1
Without a doubt in my mind Byram would win this game. They are easily the best team in the state in any class. Byram did beat Greeley in a scrimmage before the season started. Im 100% confident in the Byram boys over Greeley and Vestal, both are great teams but Byram is in a league of its own.
byram would win bc greeley has no defense, greeley isnt great and without dan thau they would blow, he was the won that made thier season. the combination of him keeping goals out and lewin puttin em in is what made them so good.
Dan Thau is the best goalie in all of section 1, Harrison Lewin is the best forward in all of section 1, and Greeley has one of the best midfields in the section (with reison, diorio, karr, and reisert). Greeleys defense also shut out powerhouse Arlington so I dont want to hear that their defense is shit. Greeley would beat Byram, definitely
Dan Thau is the best goalie in all of section 1, Harrison Lewin is the best forward in all of section 1, and Greeley has one of the best midfields in the section (with reison, diorio, karr, and reisert). Greeleys defense also shut out powerhouse Arlington so I dont want to hear that their defense is shit. Greeley would beat Byram, definitely
wtf how wud greely definately beat byram? first of all they did play at the beginning of the season in a scrimmage and byram dominated the game….mike szczesniak was just as good as thau at the end of the season and byrams defense is in a different class than greelys. Harrison lewin might be a good player but section 1 mvp will ogden is far superior. And none of those midfielders compare with paresi. Greely is a good team however byram is a GREAT team.
Paresi is garbage. Hes juicin – and no, not steroids.
If byram hills played in the greeley league, they would probably end up third behind greeley and JJCR. Byram hills scrimmaged JJCR in a preseason camp and it was evenly matched when the JJCR’s varsity team was split up with JV players and played against the starting byram hills squad. Ogden wouldn’t have gotten player of the section if he had played better teams. He didn’t even get the tournament MVP, his teammate Paresi did. Ogden had 25* goals, 17* assists, and a total of 67* points (barry bonds). They are a good team, but they are not THAT good.
If byram was in the same league as greeley and jjcr ogden would still be mvp of section 1. He is marginally the best forward in new york state. He is currently being recruited by BC.
Both Greeley and JJCR are quality teams but to say that Byram would finish third behind both of them is wrong. When Byram scrimmaged JJCR in the preseason camp both teams had there teams mixed up with varsitya and jv players. You can not evaluate how a team would match up by how they played in the preseason because throughout the season both teams will get better. The same thing goes for Byram and Greeley they scrimmaged in the preseason, in which Byram won. To say that Byram is not THAT good is completely wrong because Byram is the only team in the section to win there respective state title. As for the Greeley defense, if they are that good how did they tie the game with 4 minutes left and then let the other team score the game winning goal with a matter of seconds reaminaing.
ok…..first of all, why are you comparing ogden o barry bonds. and second thau and szczesniak are both really good keepers and they are probably both just as good as eachother. yes greeley did have a very strong midfield but so did byram with paresi and shaheen in the center. not to mention that the paresi-ogden combo is probably one of the most deadly duos in all of new york. you also cant really use against us about what league byram plays in…you honestly think that they want to play in a league like that, no. the section places them there because they have 800 kids to choose from while greeley and jjcr have way more. but i think if byram played greeley at the end of the season it would be one even game but out of 10 times i say byram wins 5 or 6.
and to touch on the preseason camp ur information is seriously skewed since ogden and byrams sweeper were both out the entire preseason so they were not even close to ful strength
the preseason camp was brought up originally by byram, showing that they beat the stellar defense of jjcr. however, the defense was missing bucky illingworth, all-section sophmore defender. and honestly, i know byram was at least missing ogden, and im sure both teams were playing with jv players and split up their varsity teams. SO, the camp b/w the two teams is completely irrelevant. ive played against both byram and greeley, and here are my thoughts:
at goalie, the edge has to go to greeley. although thau is an asshole, hes nasty. the byram goalie was very good, he has a huge drop kick. i saw the lakeland-byram game, and hopefully that wasnt the byram goalies best game, cuz it looked like his goalie gloves were coated in concrete. the edge* goes to greeley
at defense, greeley has an average defense. yes, they shutout arlington, but the only reason they got that was b/c of thau. im not saying their defense is awful, because greeley made it into regionals. for byram, their sweeper is very good. their outside defenders, are as average as the greeley defenders, but because of their sweeper, the edge* goes to byram
at midfield, greeley is strong everywhere. reisons ability to win 50/50s is very good. chubs… enough said. byram has a star in paresi that can take control of anygame, especially against lakeland. id say the midfield is even, because greeley is good all around, and paresi is ridonkulous
at forward, greeley had the best forward combination in the section, in sheine and lewin. they were good in a different was ogden was. lewin and sheine flicked balls on to eachother to create goals, whereas ogden controlled the game and dribbled by everyone to score. again, id have to say the forwards are even.
overall, this would be a great game. maybe there should be a game b/w the teams next year. id also like to see jjcr play byram next year. wish it couldve been this year, but w/e. im sure greeley wishes the same as theyll be losing thau next year. congrats to all of section 1 for a great season. o, and honestly, jjcr isnt a massive school, were single digits over the class a limit, were the smallest section 1 aa school. and greeley isnt that big either, so the student body has some effect on the team, but not much. and really, byram isnt in a league of their own, congrats on the state championship, thats incredible, but its class a. they would lose to a lot of aa teams in section 1.
Then one question, if Greeley’s keeper and forward are so great, how come thet did not bring home a state championship in their class?? Congrats to Byram, the jealousy is amazing.
We played greeley twice and tied them once and lost another close game to them. I also witnessed byram play more than once and I know that this would be a good game. But honestly, I would say Greeley would win. Thau is radiculous, and him combined with the rest of Greeleys defense (which includes an good sweeper, and quality outside defenders) can shut down Ogden. However, Lewin and Scheine along with the very good Greeley midfield (Reison, Reisert, Karr, Diorio is better than Paresi and Shaheen), Greeley would control the midfield and win the game.
JJCR, with the best defense in the section, would beat Byram too
Stephen Paresi and Will Ogden are probably the most gifted players in Section and there is no way any defense could really stop them unless they were having a really off day
to jj and jjcr:
i do have to disagree with some of the stuff you said. bucky illingworth was playing during the camp…but you cannot compare byram and jjcr by no means based on those performances at the preseason camp. and also, byrams outside backs are definately much better than average. they are both sophmores and are both very very fast. they will be very good in the upcoming years. also, greeleys defense may shut down ogden on a 4-5-1 but probably cant when byram would play a 4-3-3. but without a doubt in my mind if byram would play these 2 teams that it would be a very even game.
Greeley, JJCR, Scarsdale, Arlington, JJEF, White Plains, and Suffern are all better than Byram
class aa:
thats ur opinion u obiviously dont know what ur talking about and if greeley is better than byram then howcome they didnt beat them in the scrimmage this year
dear class AA, yep, those are good teams, but in all due respect, who DID bring home a championship???? The Hills did, that’s who!!!!!!!!!!! That is the reality. Congrats to Byram and their coach, a fine job this year!
truth of it is this really doesnt matter…byram has more state championships this year in boys soccer than Greeley, JJCR, Scarsdale, Arlington, JJEF, White Plains, and Suffern combined.
you cant compare greeley and byram based on a scrimmage before the season. I know that both teams are completely different teams than they were in the begining of the season. also, it was a scrimmage where both teams did not play their best lineup for the entire game
Class AA: have you even seen byram play. Judging by your opinions I think you haven’t.
class a sucks
I think it’s unrealistic to compare teams that have not played each other. Soccer in particular has no consistancy game in and game out. It wou;d be unfair, especially to Byram to say they would lose to some of these AA schools.
Having seen all of these teams play I think Byram would certaintly compete with all of them. If they played each one of those teams 10 times they would win at least half. The only way you could compare the two is by taking a common opponent like Lakeland. Byram was able to beat Lakealnd who did play some of the best AA schools game in and game out and held their own.
To all you Greeley/JJCR players/supporters, please stop trying to make yourselves feel better by talking down to a team that achieved 129837239842 times more than you did this season because no matter what you say, Byram players are the ones going to get their state championship rings this week, along with a pep rally, a huge sign acknowledging their victory, a banner that hangs in their gym forever, oh yeah and they have a parade through their town on December 8th if you wanna come to that and talk some more hypothetical situations
They also don’t talk shiyt without proving themselves… unlike the rest of you
hey jake or eric, do u who was on the men’s all-state team this season?
and about the common opponents thing… thats pretty unreliable b/c a lot of teams play differently depending on the situation, but greeley and jjcr were undefeated against lakeland, so about that holding their own comment… yaaaaa
and congrats to byram on the state championship, but ur erection from all of the ceremonies is popping through the screen right now, so can u tuck it under ur belt for me…..thanks
jj
ur obiviously just mad that your team didnt win so dont take it out on us. dont worry…ill let u know how cool our championship rings are
set up a scrimmage pussies
thaaaaaannnnnnnkssssss mark!!!!!!
thau and lewin both admitted to me that they would lose to byram… if reison is the teams best midfeilder and paresi is much much better then him and lewin is the teams best forward and ogden is much much better then him how could they possibly win. Greeley even admits that their defense was weak the whole year and byram probably had the strongest in the state. As for sez and thau….thau’s probably more consistent but I think when sez is on hes probably the better goally.
honestly, thau owns the byram goalie and there is no way in hell byrams defense was the best in the state, they werent even the best in the state, check the stats. but congrats again on the state championship cuz stats dont matter if u win it all.
greely, john jay, and lakeland goalies own byrams goalie
yeaa that might be ur opinion…but really the only thing that matters is that byrams goalie has a state title and greeley, john jay, and lakeland goalies dont
while byram may have won the state, let the record show that paresi uses male enhancement pills
Pele003 (11:15:49 PM): so we would win in a scrimmage
Pele003 (11:15:55 PM): ?
GoMets1234 (11:16:00 PM): probably
Pele003= steve paresi, byram hills
GoMetz1234= dave reison, greeley
end of conversation…..b hills is the best in section 1 hands down
first of all… greeley lost to lakeland 2-1 and thau made a mistake on lakelands GW goal late in the game. second of all… thau is not an asshole he is actually a rly nice kid. third of all… bryam, JJCR and greeley are all good teams who would have played close games. im not saying byram could not have won aa section… but over the course of a season with aa schedule and playing through aa states….i think that higher level of AA competition would have caught up to them. i dont think they could have won the aa states…maybe they would have made it a round or 2 further than greeley. im not saying byram couldnt have beaten vestal… but the higher competition through aa sectionals would have def caught up to them.
that converation was taken out of context. these comments were never made
Ohh so sawrry
steve paresi uses male enhancement pills…thats why he had a nose bleed that took up 2 paper towels…those things are meant for more blood flow downstairs…but it accidentally went to steves nose. he also does things to girls when they are sleeping that i cannot talk about in this blog.
it actually wasnt taken out of context at all….how could something like that be taken out of context….dave, ya admitted that were better and thats the end of it. and as a sidenote- scissor me dayave
villanovas for panzies
will ogden is 36… and used to live in Brazil with jaoa
Greeley’s Run Through Playoffs:
W RC Ketcham 3-1
W Clarkstown North 3-1
W @ Arlington 1-0
T Scarsdale (W 5-4 on Pks)
Byram Hills Run Through Playoffs:
W Beacon 2-1
W Rye 1-0
W Lakeland 2-1
Little bit of a disparity on comp no? greeley was drained
woah woah thau thau….lest i remind u that u kinda arent even sectional champs…i believe the rules state that u r cosectional champs…so how dare u even try to compare us u bird
I had the opportunity to see both these teams play. I saw Greeley play JJCR in the 2nd game, and I have to say the performance Reison, Thau, and Lewin put on was truly a sight to see. Reison and Lewin combined to set up the games only goal.
I saw Byram play Lakeland in the section finals. While they did come out victorious, I personally felt they were outplayed. A controversial PK call kept them in the game.
I really am not sure who would win a game between these teams.
btw undercover is thau…how u like that thau…not so undercorver anymore are ya
objective spectator is dave reison who was not even at the lakeland game to make those statements.
Paresi will never be me. never.
Scissors steve
Steve Paresi will never be me. He wishes he could get as many girls as me or be section player of the year like me or be all american like me or be recruited by BIG TIME big east schools like me… but hes not.
always in a shadow steve.
Replace dave reison with stjepan bandov, and the above comment is, in fact, true
yep…its true
Can’t use personal attacks on here folks. I don’t like censoring anyone but I had to spend the last 15 minutes erasing a lot of comments.
On a related note, be aware that just because someone posts under a name doesn’t mean they are that person.
Sincerely,
Napoleon
ok 1st off, lakeland did not dominate the game against byram. they scored 1 lucky goal off a deflection and jus decided to pack it in wit like 5 guys staying all the way back. And 2nd off it was a foul in the box, there was blatant contact.
Can we use this blog to make nice comments instead of all these slams ?? Be happy for all the players. It was a good season for all ! Enough already.
the greeley kids started it tho
The Greeley kids always start it!
hi it is me…yossi …i play good game today for liverpool…me and momo have big party tonight…stevie says everyone is coming !!!!! YAY …hopefully bolo can fly from france and go to party….bye bye
ok nobody you are just judging byram based on one game. did u see the sayville game? im pretty sure byram wouldnt have won if it wasnt for szczesniak. and if you think ogden has no moves than you either are on crack or you have never seen him play. so seriously, get your facts straight. byram won a state title, your team didnt. GET OVER IT
Your right, I didn’t go to the states game when they played sayville because I would I waste my time watching a mediocre team. In the Lakeland game, Ogden didn’t do anything and what ever he did to those 2 kids, they are probably freshman and are terrible. Match him up against a halfway decent defense and I would guaruntee that he would get shut out.
And I’m not sure if you were at the Lakeland game or if you weren’t paying attention, but Byram never would have won that game if it wasn’t for the referee. You shouldn’t be thanking Ogden, Paresi, or any other person on the team, but that one referee that allowed Byram to advance.
I agree with the guy above that Byram Hills would not have won with out the help of the referee. Section wanted to make sure that the #1 ranked team would make it because they thought they had the best chance to represent in the state tournament which I agree with. I just don’t agree that Byram should have won that game.
Sayville… a mediocre team??? That’s great.. Give it up, chances are you are some bitter fan.. There is another topic regarding the pk where I displayed my argument there for it, but give it up.
Nobody.. the two kids that Ogden completely faked out and drew a yellow card out of one of them were 2 of Sayville’s better players, one being their best defender picked by their coach to man mark Ogden the whole game (This player was a senior not some horrible freshmen). Sayville was by the way the number 1 team in the state so I dont think they contain any random terrible freshmen as you put it. Ogden then proceeded to scoring the winner in that game and the winner in the final the next day. You watched one game you said, the Lakeland one, can you really judge a player based on one game. He is headed for a d1 program next year and to say that a half way decent defense could shut him down is absolutely ridiculous. Among other reasons, the simplest one is that Sayvile and Burnt Hill’s defenses were above “half decent”, and they could not shut him down. And for the record, I’m pretty sure being “big” normally wont get a player 25 goals and 17 assists in a season and be regarded as the best player and athlete in his section if he didnt have something else to offer. Watch a few games and get a real opinion on someone before you start trashing him out of pure jealousy. And for that game being completely changed by the ref for the sole purpose that he wanted Byram to get through to states, is just too outrageous a theory for me to even respond to.
All these comments about the games, referees and about Ogden are absolutely ridiculous. It is the coaches that pick the “all section”,”all-league” and “all-state” players. Who do you think they picked? Are you now going to say that all the coaches in the section saw nothing in Ogden or the other players that were chosen? The coaches that are recruiting him for D1 schools saw nothing in him ??? Get real ! The coaches of the section voted for him because he is a good and talented player. He made his contribution as did the other players on the Byram Hills team. This year it was their talent that won, next year it will be some other team. Grow up all of you.
None of you guys know how people are voted on all-league or all-section. Each team is given the number, for example greeley was allowed 4 all-section and 1 honorable mention. Then the way the people get the awards is that their own coach elect them. So all you have to do is suck up to your coach and you can be all-section.
And, who votes for All American ?? Do you suck up to someone for that? Do you also suck up to the college coaches that are recruiting you? Why all the jealousy? Be happy for people. In other words, grow up, face the real world. Be a mensch.
Section I fan, That statement is an insult to all the coaches in the sections.
personally, i believe that luis sanchez on jj is better than ogden. i mean, that kid has it all. with his 1 on 1 moves, his incredible athletic ability, and his great field awareness. personally, when i hear the word stud, this kid comes to mind. he was the true reason that jj had a great year, not lukas or bucky illingworth, it was mainly luis.
Momo, what are you talking about? Luis played for JJ in 2 scrimmages that was it. He was academically ineligable so he didn’t play during the season at all. You need to get you facts straight.
top 8 teams in class AA would have won state in class A
Best team (not necessarily the most talent but the best) in section 1 this year…..a team that should be recognized and remembered for a long time
YOU GUYS THINK BYRAM HILLS IS BETTER THEN GREELEY CLASS AA IS 100 TIMES BETTER THEN CLASS A WE HAD TO BEAT ARLINGTON PROBABLY BETTER THEN VESTAL AND THE GAME WAS AT ARLINGTON AND THEN WE HAD TO PLAY SCARSDALE INTO PKS AND THEN GO ALL THE WAY UPSTATE TO PLAY VESTAL THE EVENTUAL CHAMPS DOES THAT NOT TIRE OUT A TEAM. BYRAM CONGRATS ON THE STATE TITLE BUT DONT SAY YOU CAN BEAT GREELEY CAUSE THAT IS NOT TRUE.
hey remmeber wen byram won and greeley didnt
GREELEY is just better than you guys. in general. we won the fight, and if u wanna do it again, we will bring the HEAT.
being at all the games from sectional finals until finals, i will say this: In regards to Byram’s PK call against Lakeland, it was a push for sure. Two hands on the back by any defender is idiocy and grounds for the ref to point to the spot. Now the game in general. Anyone who tries to pack it in for 40 minutes is asking to lose. Look at AC Milan vs. Liverpool, up 3-0 at half, Milan lost. Ogden is an incredible player, hence, BC, THE NUMBER 1 RANKED TEAM GOING INTO THE NCAA TOURNAMENT, asked him to join. Class AA is not as good as you all think it is. Now, I’m not saying Class A is fantastic, it does only have good teams in Byram, Keio (who I believe beat JJCR) and Lakeland, but to say that JJCR, HGHS and Scarsdale are better is lunacy. The evenness between the teams is pretty consistent as seen by the results on the year. Either way, Byram has the banner that reads State Champions so in general it does not really matter.