Linked Up – 9/4/2012

One week away. Seven days. Approximately 168 hours (or 10,080 minutes). You get the idea. That is how long the anxious student-athletes, coaches, parents, fans and anyone else must wait before the 2012 high school sports season kicks off. It has been a long time coming for these teams and athletes and they are no doubt anxious to get started. With that in mind, here is a look at what is being written around the state as these teams prepare to start the season:

• Joe Palladino glances at the prospects for some boys soccer teams.
• The Register Citizen looks at the commitment and some of the potential benefits from the hard work associated with high school sports competition.
• Jermaine Frazier of Griswold adapted to change and is now thriving as explained in the Norwich Bulletin.
• A tragic story from the Stamford Advocate as the Westhill community deals with the loss of a former player.
• For the Staples football team, it starts with defense.
• Another sad story as Staples High School deals with a terrible accident with a cross country standout.
• Waterford High School has some exciting new facilities to play with.
• The Coach is also excited about the start of the high school football season.
• The Branford girls swim team looks to improve by one spot this year.
• The new Cheshire girls swim coach has some big shoes to fill.
• This is tangentially about high school sports, but the new Big East Commissioner’s high school Connecticut roots are addressed in this column.
• For the visual perspective, here is a photo gallery for the 2012 football preseason.
• The new Milford field hockey coach also assumes leadership of a successful program.
• A profile of Newtown football playmaker Dan Hebert.