[Danny K]

I seriously wonder, how many people come on this thread and just LURK without commenting or participating? I suppose a lot!

[RiskReturn]

Milford
New Haven

[Danny K]

Deadline is tomorrow at 8:00pm! Be sure to get all the last votes in.

[7express]

Originally Posted by 7express

I'm taking Guilford over Milford for the final. I like the charm of Guilford over Milford.

I need a couple more days to decide between Madison and New Haven. I will have that pick by Saturday night, I'm still debating. Right now I'm leaning New Haven, but that could change.

So Guilford over Milford and I will quote this message on Saturday for the 3rd place selection.

I have decided to go with New Haven over Madison for the 3rd place. Madison is great, from the surf club, the town itself, but you get a little bit of everything in New Haven, and that's the difference for me. Probably the hardest for me in this edition.

So to simplify from Thursday:

Guilford over Milford
New Haven over Madison.

Thanks for running this again Danny, looking forward to seeing how the 2024 edition shapes up!

[Danny K]

Originally Posted by 7express

I have decided to go with New Haven over Madison for the 3rd place. Madison is great, from the surf club, the town itself, but you get a little bit of everything in New Haven, and that's the difference for me. Probably the hardest for me in this edition.

So to simplify from Thursday:

Guilford over Milford
New Haven over Madison.

Thanks for running this again Danny, looking forward to seeing how the 2024 edition shapes up!

Of Course Man! Stay Tuned for the Final Results tomorrow night!

[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by Danny K

Of Course Man! Stay Tuned for the Final Results tomorrow night!

Will Guilford snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? or prevail against a mighty underdog?
After easily dispatching of inferior competition throughout, will Milford finally pull off The Miracle on Sand against another CT titan?
Tune in tomorrow

[Danny K]

Gosh, I must say that it is so amazing how much popularity of the towns change throughout the tournaments as we go on every two years. I started doing this in 2014 but honestly my very first tournament was awful so I don't really count that one. Generally 2016 was the first real one that was done properly.

Anyways, when I look back at the 2016 tournament, the Farmington Valley Towns were so much stronger and performed a lot better. Farmington made 4th place, and towns like Avon and Simsbury were a lot harder to beat. 2018 was also a very strong year for Farmington Valley towns and all of them were not easy to beat. However, when we look at 2020 and this tournament, the towns got embarrassed and were beaten easily. The fact that Deep River almost beat Avon was unbelievable to me. And how Essex completely humiliated Farmington. Gosh in 2018, Avon knocked out East Lyme, and Farmington only lost to Stonington by 1 vote. If we repeated those fixtures in this tournament, it would've turned out very differently I'm sure. Farmington Valley Towns are clearly losing the love and charm that they once had.

To be honest though, my personal opinion, I do enjoy the charm in some of the Farmington Valley Towns but I do believe that they were overrated in past tournaments. Canton, Farmington, and Simsbury are my favorites in that area, but I'm not a fan of Avon at all. The other three have charm but they aren't really my favorite inland towns to be honest. I prefer towns like: Glastonbury, Litchfield, Essex, West Hartford, Newtown, and Middletown.

Also, look at Milford. Milford was an average town in 2016, and lost to Darien. Yes, hard to believe when we look at where both those two towns performed this tournament and 2020. Milford did better in 2018, but really made the jump from an above average town to a strong favorite in 2020, and this tournament, and I expect will always be one of the favorites from now on. I also feel that Westport has lost some popularity, although that town has been fairly consistent.

All that to say, results do change as the years go on, and towns gain and lose attraction from people here and there. Much of it depends on the voters as well, but we've had at least 50% that have been pretty consistent throughout all 4 tournaments. I also must say that I feel these tournaments have encouraged people on this forum to go explore many different towns more and see for themselves and it has caused change in opinions. When I started this back in 2016, I feel that a lot of people happened to vote on towns that get the most love on the forum in terms of recommendations, but that has really changed.

[Danny K]

One town that I will really keep my eye on for next tournament is Litchfield. It appears to be a really strong town that is very competitive. When I look at the previous tournaments, it never went out without a strong fight.

Exited to Fairfield in 2016, Exited to Guilford in 2018 (Beat Westport and Tied Madison), Exited to Milford in 2020 (Really Close), and Exited to Guilford in 2022 (Again Fairly Close). If I am remembering correctly, I don't think Litchfield ever lost to any town by over 4 votes, and that is simply amazing. And like we said, Fairfield, Milford, and Guilford are always strong tournament favorites and have been finalists multiple times.

It's really amazing to think that Litchfield tied Madison, and beat towns like Westport, and Old Saybrook. I mean that is not to be taken lightly. I really fancy Litchfield to do very well next tournament as long as it doesn't draw one of the big 5 too early (Fairfield, Guilford, Milford, New Haven, Madison).

[Danny K]

Deadline is tonight at 8pm! Any last tournament votes, be sure to get in today!

[Danny K]

Deadline is in 60 min guys! Be sure to get any last minute votes in ASAP.