[Danny K]

This Marlborough vs Canton tie is giving me goosebumps. Why are so many people choosing Canton? Its true that Canton is a really nice town, but Marlborough is so pretty and probably one of the most beautiful rural towns in the state. Also feels like its a different world but not that far from everything.

[7express]

RunD hasn't posted in a couple of years so I don't think they'll be back. I don't know about the other people, never seem them much around here.

I just think with Mansfield with UConn and it seems to be most "complete" town in Tolland county, though highway access is the big negative. Maybe Vernon with the highway access and accessibility to Hartford/Providence/Boston is probably the other leading contender in the country. People may like the nature of Andover, Coventry, Colombia, Bolton, etc. and don't get me wrong all perfectly nice, quaint New England towns, but I'd much rather get stuck in a Mansfield or Vernon....because there's more places to occupy my time. I'll look back at this in a couple months when this is done, but my favorites to make it out of each county:

Fairfield:
Fairfield; second place Westport

New Haven:
Madison; runner up Guilford

Hartford:
Glastonbury; runner up Avon

Middlesex:
Old Saybrook; runner up Cromwell but Old Saybrook wins easily

New London:
Stonington; runner up who knows?? I'll guess Colchester, but Stonington should snag one of the 2 spots.

Litchfield:
Litchfield; runner up Roxbury

Tolland:
Mansfield; runner up Coventry

Windham:
Who the hell knows I'll say Pomfret first and Planfield second, but I don't have a clue how this is gonna turn out, LOL

my projected final 4:

Winner: Stonington
Runner up: Madison
3rd place: Old Saybrook
4th place: Fairfield

Let's see how terribly wrong I end up being at the end.

Edit: Fixed groups based on bracket pairings

[Danny K]

Originally Posted by 7express

RunD hasn't posted in a couple of years so I don't think they'll be back. I don't know about the other people, never seem them much around here.

Ahh I'm sad about RunD. I miss him being part of these!

Originally Posted by 7express

Fairfield:
Fairfield; second place Westport

Totally agree.

Originally Posted by 7express

New Haven:
Madison; runner up Milford

I say Guilford or New Haven. Did you look at the brackets by the way? Milford cannot be runner up to Madison because same part of the bracket. The whole brackets were drawn ahead of time.

Originally Posted by 7express

Hartford:
Glastonbury; runner up Avon

Avon or Farmington as runner up I say. Maybe Simsbury.

Originally Posted by 7express

Middlesex:
Old Saybrook; runner up Cromwell but Old Saybrook wins easily

What about Essex? Old Saybrook to win, and I think Essex as runner up.

Originally Posted by 7express

New London:
Stonington; runner up who knows?? I'll guess Colchester, but Stonington should snag one of the 2 spots.

Not Colchester. Either East Lyme or Old Lyme for sure. And yes Stonington will likely be in the final.

Originally Posted by 7express

Litchfield:
Litchfield; runner up Canaan

I say maybe Kent or Roxbury as runner up. Not quite sure though.

Originally Posted by 7express

Tolland:
Mansfield; runner up Vernon

Windham:
Who the hell knows I'll say Pomfret first and Planfield second, but I don't have a clue how this is gonna turn out, LOL

my projected final 4:

Winner: Stonington
Runner up: Madison
3rd place: Milford
4th place: Fairfield

Let's see how terribly wrong I end up being at the end.

I'm not even gonna try with Tolland or Windham because I just have no idea.

I think final four will be: Fairfield, Madison, Guilford, and Old Saybrook in any order. Let's see how wrong I am as well, LOL!

[7express]

Originally Posted by Danny K

This Marlborough vs Canton tie is giving me goosebumps. Why are so many people choosing Canton? Its true that Canton is a really nice town, but Marlborough is so pretty and probably one of the most beautiful rural towns in the state. Also feels like its a different world but not that far from everything.

My friend is the girls basketball coach at Canton so I spend some time up there and just for my input: Collinsville (part of Canton) is really nice. I don't really think Marlboro has that "downtown" area like Collinsville does for Canton. Also, it doesn't seem like it as it seems like it's in the boondocks, but it's not quite "as far out there" as it seems: I get from my house in Trumbull to Canton in 60 minutes; so you can get to Waterbury in about 30 minutes; New Haven probably about 60 minutes as well, Bridgeport 65, Stamford under 90 minutes. It's only about 30 minutes from the state line and the Berkshire's in 1 direction and Hartford (I think even less than 30 minutes) in the other direction. Marlboro to Hartford, even entirely highway driving is probably almost as long as Canton to Marlborough. The Casinos, RI/Cape Cod beaches, upper New England & Boston are the only 4 major destinations it takes quicker to get to from Marlbourgh than from Canton. I'm not going to mention schools because without kids I don't pay attention to that stuff so I'll let someone who's more experienced reading that weigh in on Canton schools vs. Marlbourgh schools, but if I had to guess, at least comparing high schools, RHAM & Canton High are probably on par. Marlbourgh might be slightly less expensive, but likewise I'll let someone else with more experience on housing prices and income, etc weigh in on potential housing prices and taxes in Marlbourgh vs. Canton. There's no interstate or any major highways through Canton like there is in Marlbourgh but 44 & 202 both run through the upper part of town so it does have a major arterial road to connect it to both parts of the state. I can't say much for Marlborough since the only time I'm driving through it is to get off of route 2 onto route 66 to go to Eastern Connecticut or UConn/EO Smith and at that point I'm usually running late coming from Fairfield county so I can't afford to take detours and check out what I maybe missing in the town.

[7express]

No. I just looked ahead at the Fairfield county one. Trumbull vs. New Fairfield I think could be and should be very evenly matched. Let me look at New Haven and resubmit that which will change the top 4.

[Danny K]

Originally Posted by 7express

My friend is the girls basketball coach at Canton so I spend some time up there and just for my input: Collinsville (part of Canton) is really nice. I don't really think Marlboro has that "downtown" area like Collinsville does for Canton. Also, it doesn't seem like it as it seems like it's in the boondocks, but it's not quite "as far out there" as it seems: I get from my house in Trumbull to Canton in 60 minutes; so you can get to Waterbury in about 30 minutes; New Haven probably about 60 minutes as well, Bridgeport 65, Stamford under 90 minutes. It's only about 30 minutes from the state line and the Berkshire's in 1 direction and Hartford (I think even less than 30 minutes) in the other direction. Marlboro to Hartford, even entirely highway driving is probably almost as long as Canton to Marlborough. The Casinos, RI/Cape Cod beaches, upper New England & Boston are the only 4 major destinations it takes quicker to get to from Marlbourgh than from Canton. I'm not going to mention schools because without kids I don't pay attention to that stuff so I'll let someone who's more experienced reading that weigh in on Canton schools vs. Marlbourgh schools, but if I had to guess, at least comparing high schools, RHAM & Canton High are probably on par. Marlbourgh might be slightly less expensive, but likewise I'll let someone else with more experience on housing prices and income, etc weigh in on potential housing prices and taxes in Marlbourgh vs. Canton. There's no interstate or any major highways through Canton like there is in Marlbourgh but 44 & 202 both run through the upper part of town so it does have a major arterial road to connect it to both parts of the state. I can't say much for Marlborough since the only time I'm driving through it is to get off of route 2 onto route 66 to go to Eastern Connecticut or UConn/EO Smith and at that point I'm usually running late coming from Fairfield county so I can't afford to take detours and check out what I maybe missing in the town.

Makes sense. It very well might be due to proximity. You are right Marlborough doesn't really have the downtown like Canton does. More rural but a very pretty town.

[RogerAnthony]

Originally Posted by Danny K

Marlborough doesn't really have the downtown like Canton does. More rural but a very pretty town.

That's exactly why I voted for Canton. Marlborough is just... ugh. Trees and farms. Canton has Collinsville in it.

[RoundTableKnight]

Originally Posted by 7express

Hartford vs Plainville. See Middlebury. Not only can I drive in downtown Plainville I can also stay in Plainville past 8 PM and not have it be a ghost town like Hartford is.

This is not an untrue statement and it's very sad. No wonder Hartford makes all these worst capitols in the US list - it's just not a fun place for people who enjoy the nightlife and if you make one wrong turn you end up in a very dangerous section of the city. In my opinion the very poor reputation of Hartford is CT's biggest failure.

[Mr_250]

Originally Posted by CamonYallCTaintThatBad

This is not an untrue statement and it's very sad. No wonder Hartford makes all these worst capitols in the US list - it's just not a fun place for people who enjoy the nightlife and if you make one wrong turn you end up in a very dangerous section of the city. In my opinion the very poor reputation of Hartford is CT's biggest failure.

What?! I love Hartford. Maybe I’m a bit biased because my family owned businesses and multiple properties there for years (going on 60 years) but Hartford is fun. Like any city it has rough sections, easy solution don’t go to the rough sections. Every time I go out in Hartford for night life we have a ball. Just need to know where to look. Providence is my ultimate favorite city, but Hartford is second. I’ve worked in New Haven since 2008 and it does have a lot going on (and is more than likely the most up and coming CT city) but it doesn’t feel organic. Everyone seems like a transplant and the pride isn’t there. Hartford to me feels organic. It’s like going a big Cheers, everyone knows your name. People who seem to frequent Hartford are mostly locals and I like that. It brings some sense of pride.

[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by 7express

my projected final 4:

Winner: Stonington
Runner up: Madison
3rd place: Old Saybrook
4th place: Fairfield

Let's see how terribly wrong I end up being at the end.

Like last year, and the year before. Man you really went out on a limb with these pick. Are you sure??
Are you picking the Dodgers and Yankees in the WS? (if there is one)