Linked Up – 7/22/16

Simsbury coach Ed Lynch celebrates with his team after earning a state title in his final season. Russ Knisel – Hartford Courant.

Back at it again with another edition of Linked Up. This one is heavy on national stories and a little light on Connecticut high school pieces, as things slow down a bit during the summer. But fall previews will be here before you know it, so for now, just enjoy this broad spectrum of high school (and a few non-high school) sports stories.

• From the Hartford Courant: One of Connecticut’s most successful coaches went out in grand fashion.
• From NFHSLearn.com: Valuable tool for student athletes; a new online (free) concussion awareness course.
• From the Norwich Bulletin (Providence Journal): One writer things participation trophies get a bad rap.
• From TheRudenReport.com: Brian Keating found his niche and may earn him a spot playing college football.
• From the Bristol Press: Lauren Pawlowski keeps coming back and finding new goals after suffering injuries.
• From The Day of New London: India Pagan had a memorable summer (winter) experience.
• From the Huffington Post: When will we accept the new normal of girls/women in sports?
• From The Guardian: On a similar note, US women will likely outperform men at the Olympics this summer.
• From the Newtown Bee: One of the longest tenured and most successful ADs in Connecticut is retiring.
• From the Connecticut Post: Mark Evanchick closed another spectacular season with a big honor.
• From Highschoolsportsstuff.com: Hear from students directly on how they feel when their parents coach from the stands.
• From The74million.org: What happens when only some kids can afford summer camps.
• From USAFootball.com: Northwestern University football coach Pat Fitzgerald thinks sports specialization hurts more than helps.
• From GameTimeCT: Part of the looking back series, on Edwin Esson who ran over the competition at Seymour.
• From the Minneapolis Star Tribune: Sobering look at how social media is allowing parents to organize complaints. Not just a risk for athletes.
• From GameTimeCT: Finn Boynton hopes a big summer will help him build on a big season for Notre Dame-West Haven.
• From the Meriden Record Journal: Students athletes were the stars at the inaugural Best of the Bunch Brunch.
• From NBC Sports World: Not really high school sports, but a great writer on the incredible Tim Duncan, with some great messages.
• From the Washington Post: Also not really about high school sports, but an inspiring story of perseverance from an Olympian.
• From the Waterbury Republican American: Interesting bit of history with pictorial evaluation of Municipal Stadium.