Special Episode ! Boston Herald reporter Danny Ventura joins the show

The Meat Grinder

Welcome to back to another episode of the Meat Grinder, your weekly dose of high school football in Connecticut. Do not adjust your YouTube or Spotify. It is Friday and it is a very special episode of the Meat Grinder.

Last week’s drop of the Alliance playoff proposal got our gears going, we discussed it amongst ourselves, and then had a lengthy discussion about it with Oxford’s Joe Stochmal, a member of the CIAC committee.

We also thought about how similar the proposal is to one enacted by Massachusetts a few years ago in how the MIAA, the Massachusetts version of the CIAC, virtually eliminated the state’s longstanding Thanksgiving Day football tradition at the expense of expanding the playoffs and starting it in early November.

To give us a window into how that went down, we reached out to Danny Ventura, the 30-year veteran high school sports reporter from the Boston Herald for his insights and opinions on how Massachusetts’ devaluation of Thanksgiving Day football has gone over.

Granted, the CT Football Alliance’s proposal suggests moving rivalry games typically held on Thanksgiving to Columbus Day, whereas Massachusetts allows teams to play Thanksgiving Day games in between the MIAA semifinals and championship weekend.

But it was still an enlightening conversation all the same. We just couldn’t fit it all into this week’s regular Meat Grinder without heavy edits. Since we appreciate Danny’s time and his insight, we present to you the full interview in a special episode.

ENJOY!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices